Hunting carvings are older, and depict a range of different prey and totemic animals such as deer, whales and seabirds.

The images depicted in these carvings are first and foremost boats, but also cupmarks, people, horses and geometric figures.

It is believed that the very process of carving the newer images on top of the pre-existing ones had a special meaning.

The Beitstad area is located on the northern shore of the Beitstadfjorden, the innermost arm of the Trondheim Fjord.

According to Professor Anders Hagen, the fact that Beitstad is situated at the juncture between mountains, forest and coast may have rendered it a "cultic centre" for early hunters in Inntrøndelag.

[3][4] Over the subsequent 40 years, Bardal was studied by archaeologists Gustaf Hallström, Karl Ditlev Rygh, Theodor Petersen and Gutorm Gjessing.

[5] In 1936, Gjessing suggested that Hallström's discussions of the carvings had made the Bardal field "a focal point in virtually all debates about problems pertaining to petroglyphs.

[5] The remaining figures are typical of Bronze Age agricultural carvings, i.e. dating to approx.

Most of the boats in the Bardal field are of the Bronze Age type, with a distinct bottom plank/keel and railing.

[2] The few Bronze Age human figures are atypical, featuring large torsos, strong legs and small heads.

[8] The archaeologist Kalle Sognnes has written that "it seems that it was in some way important to erase what already existed, while also leveraging whatever supernatural – or subterranean – forces were to be found in this particular mountain.

Sognnes interprets the lur players at Bardal as suggesting that this was a formal meeting place for people in the region.

In light of this, he interprets the overlapping of carvings as the result of the seafaring people leaving a mark of their own, newer, presence.

The purpose was to make it easier to distinguish rock art from the two eras, and the painting was refreshed in 1973.