rock art studies in northernmost europe, 2000 - Joakim Goldhahn

Picturing the dead
One particular feature of the BA rock art tradition in this
part of the world is that rock art images were sometimes
made during different ceremonies and rituals associated
with death and burials. Even after 3300 years, many of
them were described as “freshly made” when they were
discovered (e.g. Goldhahn 1999a). The four largest finds of
rock art in different burials have all been revisited during
the last few years, including the Kivik cairn (Randsborg
1993; see also Kristiansen 2004, 2005a, 2005b; Kaul 2004a:
173–180; Goldhahn 2005d, 2005e, 2005f; Kristiansen and
Larsson 2005); the Sagaholm barrow (Goldhahn 1999a,
also Kaul 2004a); the Hjortekorg cairn (Widholm 1998,
2001; also Bengtsson 2004a; Fredell 2003a; Goldhahn
2005c) and Mjeltehaugen (Linge 2004, 2005; also Mandt
and Lødøen 2005: 123–133). Besides these case studies,
Syvertsen (2002, 2003, 2005) has analysed the portable
burial slabs from Rogaland (also Nordenborg Myhre 2004),
while Kaul (2004a) has discussed the finds that appeared
in Denmark after Glob’s (1969) important survey from
the late 1960s. Other important finds from different parts
of Scandinavia are discussed elsewhere (see Goldhahn
2006: 103–107).
The relationship between rock art and burials is also
very evident through their placing in the landscape. In
contemporary Sweden 973 out of 6000 rock art sites (about
15,000 are known) are found within 15 m of prehistoric
remains that are interpreted as grave structures – about 18
percent (see Widholm 1998: 80–93 for a discussion). In
western Norway this relationship is very evident (Fig. 2.1),
and it has been discussed and analysed by Wrigglesworth
(2000, 2002, 2005; also Mandt and Lødøen 2005: 173–
181).
Landscapes and mindscapes
One of the most tangible qualities of rock art is that it
is usually found where it was made. This phenomenon
has led to a number of landscape analyses, lately under
the influence of anthropological and phenomenological
perspectives (e.g. Tilley 1994; Bender 2006) and a number
of thought-provoking analyses have been presented (see
Bradley 1997, 2000; Nash 2000; Helskog 2001; Lewis-
Williams 2002a; Nash and Chippindale 2002; Chippindale
and Nash 2004).
In northernmost Europe, landscape analysis has
traditionally been based on the distribution of different
prehistoric remains, such as rock art, cairns and stone
settings (graves), heaps of fire-cracked stones, settlements,
hunting pits, hoards, stray finds, etc. (e.g. Almgren 1927;
see Mandt 1972, 1991; Kjellén and Hyenstrand 1977;
Nordbladh 1980; Larsson 1986; Bertilsson 1987). This
is also the case during the period in question here (see
Bertilsson 2000b; Coles 2000, 2004a, 2005a; Forsberg
2000; Wrigglesworth 2000, 2002; Groseth 2001; Sognnes
2. Rock Art Studies in Northernmost Europe, 2000–2004 19
Fig. 2.1. Cairns, sea and rock art (on the panel inbetween) at
Unneset in West-Norway. Photo: Joakim Goldhahn.
2001a, 2003b; Andersson 2002; Kare 2002; Nord Paulsson
2002; Ramqvist 2002a; 2003; Eriksen 2003; Bengtsson
2004a, 2004c; Heimann 2005; Kaul et al. 2005; Skoglund
2005), but we also find studies which are more influenced
by the international theoretical discourse. Several of the
latter studies have tried to link the use of the landscape to
the mythology and cosmology of different societies, both
within the northern traditions (Helskog 1999, 2004; Bolin
2000; Bradley 2000; Lahelma 2000, 2005; Lindgren 2001,
2002; Fandén 2002; Goldhahn 2002b; Herva and Ikäheimo
2002: Nash 2002, 2004; Sognnes 2002b; Viste 2004),
and those found in the south (Widholm 1998; Sognnes
2000a, 2002a; Bradley et al. 2002; Thedéen 2003, 2004;
Wahlgren 2002; Eriksen 2003; Syvertsen 2003; Bengtsson
2004a; Kristiansen 2005a). Gjerde (2002) has analysed the
different landscape perceptions between these traditions
from a diachronic perspective.
One crucial variable to consider in any landscape
analysis is how the landscape has changed since the rock
art was made (Sognnes 2001a; Gjerde 2002; Helskog
2004; Engelmark and Larsson 2005). In the northern parts
of Europe, the shore displacement after the last glacial is
very evident and important to consider (see Helskog 1999,
2004; Ramstad 2000; Sognnes 2001a, 2003a; Bradley and
Phillips 2004; Coles 2004a, 2005a; Ling 2004, 2005, 2006;
Seitsonen 2004), but this fact has often been neglected.
For instance, the “agrarian rock art” from Bohuslän (e.g.
Almgren 1927; see Nordbladh 1980; Bertilsson 1987;
Fredell 2003a; Bengtsson 2004a; Vogt 2006), nowadays