PART I
1. ROCK ART IN PREHISTORIC SCANDINAVIA
Scandinavian prehistoric rock art was created from as early as the middle Mesolithic through to the Early Iron Age. The period upon which this book focuses is the Nordic Bronze Age c. 1700â500 BC, for it is in this period that the majority of rock art was created. This chapter acts as an introduction to Scandinavian prehistoric rock art. It will look at when and where it was created, what images it portrays and compare those to other sources of similar imagery. It will then introduce a few general interpretations, leading on to the specifically maritime theories presented in Chapter 2. In this book motif names will be capitalised to distinguish the images from actual features.
Rock art scholars delineate two main methods of interpretation: informed methods and formal methods. Writing either informed or formal interpretations of Scandinavian rock art requires investigation into more than just the field of archaeology (see Chippindale 2001; Chippindale and Nash 2004, 14; Chippindale and Taçon 1998; Whitley 2005, 79). Informed methods draw primarily from ethnography, on the insights directly or indirectly gleaned from those who made and used the art (Chippindale and Nash 2004, 14). Through the use of these âinsider storiesâ one aims to interpret the images as an insider, which is referred to as an emic perspective. Informed methods were first established to fight generalisation rather than perpetuate universal rules of art making practice. Formal methods, on the other hand, use quantitative or locational data to interpret, and this is referred to as an etic perspective. Formal methods are an outsiderâs tools independent of insider knowledge. In regards to rock art, âThe information available is then restricted to that which is immanent in the images themselves, or which we can discern from their relations to each other and to the landscape, or by relation to whatever archaeological context is availableâ (Chippindale and Nash 2004, 14). In this chapter many of the rock art studies will employ both informed and formal methods of interpretations, and as we delve into the literature it will become apparent that both methods give rise to benefits and hindrances.
Historically the study of rock art has been a topic of interest for many disciplines, not just archaeology: mainly anthropology (of art), sociology, ethnography, art history, museum studies and (the philosophy of) aesthetics. These disciplines are, of course, also influenced by the social and political historical context in which they were written. Each discipline has an intellectual history that has influenced the history of rock art studies (what we have chosen to research) and rock art theory (the way we have chosen to interpret the material). Though this rich and complex history will not be fully explored here, many of the theories obviously draw on the discourses of these disciplines, and they will be presented throughout this book.
Dating rock art and issues of chronology
A major issue in the study of rock art, and the first question that most people will ask when confronted with this material is: how do you date it? The most popular methods of dating rock art today are by shoreline displacement and typology, both in isolation and in combination with one another. Shoreline displacement depends heavily on geological studies that include a variety of factors such as postglacial isostatic and eustatic data. Johan Lingâs recent studies of the regions of Bohuslän (2014) and Uppland (2012) are examples of the detailed level of shoreline dating currently achievable (see also Sognnes 2003; 2010a; Gjerde 2010a, 59; Goldhahn 2008a, 19; Helskog 1999; 2004; Coles 2004; 2005). In one example from Bohuslän, Ling (2014, 91: fig. 7.26) dissects the âRunohällâ rock art panel in Tanum by altitudes and measured terrain curves, showing when different sections of the panel could have been carved (Fig. 1.1). Typologies of motif imagery are based largely on the imagery from objects that can be dated by absolute methods (such as ship imagery on bronzes found in sealed grave contexts). Typology studies have a longer history and are still used today for relative dating (Malmer 1981; Kaul 1998; 2004a; b; see Goldhahn 2008a, 17 for a comprehensive list). The ship motif has been a key motif around which typologies have been created, for it appears on objects that can be more precisely dated (Fig. 1.2). Issues regarding dating and creating chronologies for rock art sites are particularly evident at sites whose imagery accumulated over long periods of time. Determining how to chronologically organise activity at sites has been and continues to be deliberated (Ăstmo 1991; Helskog 1985; Sognnes 2008). Currently more excavations are being undertaken at rock art sites, but these are sporadic. Though the dates of many rock art sites, and the methodology by which this is determined, is still debated, the majority are assigned general date spans that can be used to place them into an archaeological chronology.
Mesolithic art
We begin our tour of Scandinavian rock art in the Stone Age. During the Mesolithic in southern Scandinavia (Denmark and SkĂĽne), art-making practice was dominated by portable art and rock art was not widely produced. In this region, portable art took numerous forms: amber pendants and figurines, ornamented antler axes, hammers and shafts, bone daggers, knives, mattock-heads and points, stone knives, as well as worked flint and painted wood. Mesolithic portable art is almost non-existent in northern Scandinavia as opposed to southern Scandinavia. In Tomasz Plonkaâs (2003) catalogue, the section on central Scandinavian portable art collates the objects found in Vestland, Ăstland, Trøndelag in Norway and Jämtland, Dalarna, Bohulsän, Närke, SĂśdermanland, VästergĂśtland, ĂstergĂśtland in Sweden. North of these centrally located counties, there is little to report. Portable art in this period was indeed a tradition that flourished primarily in the south.
However, unlike in southern Scandinavia, there was a distinct rock art tradition in northern Scandinavia beginning in the late Mesolithic and arguably even earlier than that. Because of this regional division, rock art from the MesolithicâNeolithic is often called âthe Northern traditionâ (c. 9000â2000 BC), or âthe Hunterâs traditionâ. The oldest and best known sites from this period come from northern Norway: the Nordland region, Alta in Finnmark, the Troms County region and Vingen in Bremanger. Northern tradition rock art is characterised by depictions of big game animals such as elk, red deer, reindeer and large sea mammals such as porpoises, seals and whales that were contemporary residents. Regional traditions within the Northern tradition can also be discerned. Sites in Nordland, for example, are polished instead of carved or pecked and were originally situated at the Stone Age shoreline (Lødøen and Mandt 2010, 4). One such polished rock art site in this region is at Fykan Lake in Glomfjord. It was originally situated above a waterfall, and portrays one of only two known fish images from this tradition, along with other animal motifs such as a chimeric-style bear with the head of an elk (Lødøen and Mandt 2010, 74). Sagelva at Hamarøy depicts two lone reindeer situated close to what were once roaring rapids; so close that it is likely the water level reached just below the polished figures (Gjerde 2010a, 213, 236â37; Lødøen and Mandt 2010, 75â6). Their location is also in proximity to reindeer hunting pits, possibly of similar date (though this is highly speculative), and more generally to reindeer crossing grounds that would have been favourable for hunting (Gjerde 2010a, 216). At the World Heritage Site in Alta, Finnmark, the rock art chronology spans from 5000 BCâAD 100 and comprises five main concentrations of rock art around the Alta fjord: KĂĽfjord (c. 5000â1800 BC), Hjemmeluft, Storsteinen (c. 4200â1800 BC), Amtmannsnes (c. 1800 BC) and Transfarelvdalen (c. 2000 BCâ0, and possibly as old as 3000 BC) (Gjerde 2010a; Helskog 2014, 29; Lødøen and Mandt 2010). Here similar âstylistic traitsâ are observed on either side of the bay at the same sea level elevation, and it is assumed that these panels were carved close to the shoreline (Helskog 1988; Lødøen and Mandt 2010, 22â3). Vingen in Bremanger dates from c. 5000â4000 BC and is situated on the edge of the Vingepollen arm of the Frøysjøen fjord (Bakka 1979; Lødøen and Mandt 2010; Lødøen 2006; Mandt 1998). It is one of the larger concentrations of rock art containing c. 2100 images on 300 panels and features a variety of animal motifs dominated by deer (over 40%).
Figure 1.1. âThe âRunohällâ, Tanum 311, with the measured terrain curves (documentation by Gerhard Milstreau & Henning Prøhl 1996), showing the altitude and when, during the Bronze Age, the site rose out of the sea. It would not have been possible to make the rock art during period I; it is more likely that it was made during later phases, 1500â1000 BCâ (Ling 2014, 91: fig. 7.26).
Figure 1.2. âDiagram showing the chronological-typological development of Nordic-Bronze-Age ship-renderings. Left column, datable ships, right column, ships on the rocks which can be dated by analogy with the ships shown in the left columnâ (Kaul 1998, 88).
Generally speaking, the Stone Age/Northern tradition rock art sites seem to be located in proximity to watery locations. This has led to rock art interpretations that place importance on the sea. It was the KĂĽfjord site in Alta that served as exemplary of Helskogâs theory of the tripartite âshoreline connectionâ, a cosmological landscape where sky, water and land meet. And it is at Vingen that Lødøen and others have postulated that the dramatic mountainous and watery landscape could have made Vingen a âsacred placeâ. Marek Zvelebil (2008) postulated that sites such as Nämforsen in Sweden were connected to or represent the cosmologies of the region that were closely related to the landscape. These theories will be considered more closely towards the end of this chapter.
Neolithic art
In Denmark, southern Sweden and southwestern Norway, the beginning of the Neolithic is dated to around 4000 BC, though it was adopted at differing rates throughout the south Scandinavian region. These primary Neolithic groups were labelled the Funnel Beaker culture (TRB) in Denmark and southern Sweden (as far north as the Dalälven River). Shortly after, the Pitted Ware culture (GRK) developed in east central Sweden and spread quickly into southern Scandinavia (mainly northern Sküne). After the GRK, southern Scandinavia became home to the Single Grave/Corded Ware culture in Denmark and the Battle-Axe culture in Sweden (north of Sküne) and Norway. The Corded Ware and Pitted Ware cultures existed simultaneously in various parts of southern Sweden and (possibly) southernmost Norway (Hallgren 2009). In northern Scandinavia, the Neolithic in Norway and northern Sweden is much harder to describe, for here the Neolithic package does not contain all its standard defining characteristics. In eastern Norway, Torben Ballin (2004) dates the transition to the early Neolithic c. 5200 BP/4005 BC. Christopher Prescott (1996) goes so far as to question whether the Neolithic (by common definition) even existed in Norway, with more concrete signs of the Neolithic cultural package only seen in the Late Neolithic c. 2400 BC. The Slate Culture, for example, describes groups of early Neolithic hunter-gatherers who made pottery (indicative of Neolithic cultures) but had not yet adopted farming (a missing indicator of Neolithic culture). At about 2800 BC, the Corded Ware/Single Grave culture (as called in Denmark) and the Battle Axe culture (as called in Norway and Sweden) grew to dominate the entire region until the Bronze Age (Jensen 2006a; Larsson 1994). What this brief introduction exemplifies is that this period in Scandinavian prehistory is complex, and the rock art tradition within it is equally so.
As in the Mesolithic, the tradition of rock art in the Neolithic is scarcer in the south compared to the north. Some of the few examples of Neolithic rock art from southern Scandinavia are found in the form of Cup Marks on passage graves from the middle Neolithic. Straddling the line between portable art and rock art is the collection of engraved stone slabs from settlements such as Rävgrav in the Skateholm area (Larsson 1992, 15) or from megalithic tombs (Kaul 1993; 1997). One such engraved stone dates to around 2800 BC and is ornamented with eight concentric circles that are connected by radiating lines (Kaul 1997, 165â66). Kaul (1997, 167) has postulated that the ornamentation on the stone is âsome sort of a sacred image of the sun used or made for cultic purposesâ.
In northern Scandinavia, the largest concentrations of Neolithic rock art can be found at Nämforsen, Norrfors and Laxforsen. Nämforsen in Norland, northern Sweden is dated to c. 5500â3500 BP/4345â1825 BC and is predominantly Neolithic, though contains some panels that are arguably Late Mesolithic (Zvelebil 2008, 46; Bolin 2000; Gjerde 2010a; Goldhahn 2002; HallstrĂśm 1960; Malmer 1981; Sognnes 2002; Tilley 1991). Nämforsen is situated in a distinctly watery landscape, which is typical of other Mesolithic and Neolithic sites. It is one of the eight Neolithic rock carving sites (some of which are arguably of earlier date) that Joakim Goldhahn (2002, 33) shows is situated next to loud rapids or what he calls âsounding waterâ. In this period there is also a rise in portable art from northern Scandinavia. Non-plastic ornamented materials have been found at Nämforsen in the form of red slate daggers (4000â1700 BC) (Goldhahn 2002, 54â5; Tilley 1991). Goldhahn believes that the red colour is particularly interesting not only because the material is rare, but also because the colour connects them to the tradition of using red ochre in burials. The red slate material is sourced from outcrops along the Ă
ngerman River but has a wider geographical distribution, suggesting an expansive gift exchange system of red slate objects. Goldhahn wonders if âthe rituals connected with the rock-engravings in Nämforsen played a vital part in this ceremonial gift exchange system and in the production and reproduction of human social relationsâ (Goldhahn 2002, 55). Wyszomirskaâs (1984, 61) comparative study of figurines includes 81 figurines found at 21 different Neolithic hunter-gatherer sites in Sweden and six figurines from five different Neolithic hunter-gatherer sites in Norway. The Swedish figurines come in a variety of forms, namely âanthropomorphic figures, elks, unidentifiable quadrupeds, seals, birds, bears, boars/domestic pigs, wild horses, and unidentifiable ⌠highly fragmented figuresâ, as do the Norwegian figurines, appearing as âbirds, bears, seals, elks, whales, and human beingsâ (Wyszomirska 1984, 63). What is striking is the similarity of imagery between rock art and portable art in this period. It seems that the two art forms were intertwined and had a much greater influence on each other than in the preceding period.
Bronze Age art
The environmental distinction between the Mesolithic and Bronze Age periods is unique, for the first is a period of coastal inundation and the second a period of shoreline displacement. Even considering regional differences, these periods were both highly affected by changes to the shoreline, though visually and experientially they were very different types of changes. And as has already been pointed out in the Mesolithic and in the Neolithic, the rock art is often found close to watery locations. This will be repeated again in the Bronze Age.
Literature concerning the Bronze Age is vast and the distinguishing characteristics are more easily identified than in the previous periods. Bronze Age Scandinavia is less geographically divided than in the Mesolithic and Neolithic, though it is most pronounced on the coasts of Norway, the east coasts and southern half of Sweden, and all of southern Scandinavia. Scholars have traditionally included the whole of Scandinavia under the heading the âNordic Bronze Ageâ. The chronology used for the Bronze Age of Scandinavia is based on Oscar Monteliusâs divisions: the late Neolithic B is named the âearliestâ Bronze Age and thereafter there are six periods, each c. 200 years long that fall into two main periods, the Early Bronze Age (Periods IâIII, c. 1700â1100 BC) and Late Bronze Age (Periods IVâVI, 1100â500 BC) (Jensen 2006b).
In the EarlyâMiddle Bronze Age the archaeological record shows an explosion of change in material culture, settlement and subsistence patterns, burial practices and art making practices, which includes the mass production of rock art. Portable bronzes and rock art are abundant across Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but are concentrated in the central to southern regions. This âSouthern traditionâ was created from c. 1800 BC to AD 400 (Lødøen and Mandt 2010). The Southern tradition of rock art is famous for its thousands of depictions of Ships and a lexicon of largely figurative motifs. Along with Ship motifs there are Sun symbols, Horses, Eels or Snakes, Dogs, Humans, Weapons, Wheeled Vehicles, Feet and Foot Soles, to name a few. And these motifs are found in a variety of combinations that comprise sometimes-elaborate scenes. At Alta, in northern Norway, Animals are corralled or hunted by Humans wielding weapons at KĂĽfjord; on Storsteinen over 600 motifs, mostly Animals, are arranged in a complex scene that eludes interpretation. In the south, most famously in Bohuslän, humans are portrayed engaging in duels, in âweddingâ scenes (see Fig. 1.3), as acrobats or in âmartial artsâ activities and these often include Animals, Ships and abstract motifs (see also Figs 3.2, 3.5 and 3.6).
Though there are many crossovers between imagery in portable art and rock art, not all appear in the same media. As Richard Bradley (2009, 125) explains âIt is generally accepted that among the commonest elements shared between bronze artefacts and rock carvings are boats (many of them with their crews), sun symbols and horses. Portable artefacts also depict sea creatures, while human figures, weapons, and other species of animals are found in open-air rock artâ. Nor do the images all app...