Summary During the Bronze Age, a particular type of podomorphic petroglyph was produced on the outcrops by the sea in southern Scandinavia. In this text, their distribution, organization and articulation are analyzed in the Mälaren region of central‐eastern Sweden. The study shows that the petroglyphs are organized in relation to water as well as to different minerals visible in the rock. This pattern indicates that they are not simply images or symbols but also physical ‘devices’, produced to do something. It is argued that one purpose was for the frequent single podomorphs to be paired with another at a later stage. Because podomorphs in a pair generally are of different sizes and form, it is suggested that each one belongs to an individual of different age and/or sex – potentially depicted in stone to show existing or desired future relations, agreements, pacts, friendship, marriages etc.
Fredrik Fahlander (Wed,) studied this question.