Overview

How may Bohuslän rock art and landscape be perceived and understood? Since the Bronze Age, the landscape has been transformed by shore displacement but, largely due to misunderstanding and certain ideas about the character of Bronze Age society, rock art research in Tanum has drawn much of its inspiration from the present agrarian landscape. This perception of the landscape has not been a major issue. This volume, republished from the GOTAC Serie B (Gothenburg Archaeological thesis 49) aims to shed light on the process of shore displacement and its social and cognitive implications for the interpretation of rock art in the prehistoric landscape. The findings clearly show that in the Bronze Age, the majority of rock art sites in Bohuslän had a very close spatial connection to the sea. Much rock art analysis focuses on the contemplative observer. The more direct activities related to rock art are seldom fully considered. Here, the basic conditions for the production of rock art, social theory and approaches to image, communication, symbolism and social action are discussed and related to palpable social forms of the “reading” of rock art. The general location and content of the Bronze Age remains indicate a tendency towards the maritime realm, which seems to have included both socio-ritual and socio-economic matters of production and consumption and that Bronze Age groups in Bohuslän were highly active and mobile. The numerous configurations of ship images on the rocks could indicate a general transition or drift towards the maritime realm. Marking or manifesting such transitions in some way may have been important and it is tempting to perceive the rock art as traces of such transitions or positions in the landscape. All this points to a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän.

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9781782977629

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Reviews

Thiswell-presented volume is divided into three parts, offering a logical narrative within which the maritime thesis is developed. Part I launches the adventure with three chapters introducing the key themes and providing a general archaeological context for Bronze Age Scandinavia and the region of Bohuslan. In Part II we embark upon a detailed exploration of the evidence for shoreline displacement. This is considered in relation to specific rock art locales, which are digitally modelled using refined topographical measurements (made by the author), to reconstruct detailed Bronze Age seascapes. Here, the thorny issue of rock art dating is tackled in relation to these revised shorelines. The retreating water neatly provides maximum dates for the creation of carvings placed at various altitudes along a curve produced by plotting date against sea level: the lower the carving, the later the date at which it could have been placed on the exposed rock. In Chapter 7, Ling compares accepted typological chronologies (and specifically that of Fleming Kaul) with those indicated by the new shoreline analysis to produce a refined scheme. In Part III, Ling develops his arguments for the role of rock art within maritime ideologies and activities. The heavily theoretical Chapter 9 leads into a comprehensive analysis of ship motifs and other sea-related imagery in Chapter 10. Social organisations, practices and influences on Bronze Age communities are comprehensively explored in Chapter 11, specifically as they relate to conditions leading to the creation of rock art. A further chapter extends the analysis to the concept of 'transition', both within the maritime zone and in relation to those inland rock art panels that do not have a physical connection with the sea. An appendix provides a valuable gazetteer of the sites covered by the study, with their altitudes and assigned chronological period. This is a well-produced and extensively illustrated volume, although the quality of the maps varies. A simple diagram to illustrate the changing sea level through the prehistoric period would also have been useful. It is generally well written although extensive citations spoil the flow in places, and a few editing niggles remain from the original text: minor typos, the occasional use of 'man' rather than 'human' and the over-use of the term 'praxis'. In a dissertation of this nature a degree of repetition is perhaps inevitable and, indeed, sometimes useful, but the re-stating of the primary thesis with every argument was unnecessary. The summary provided in Chapter 13 will, however, be of great value for rapid reference to a volume that should be required reading for all scholars of rock art. This study systematically interprets the maritime rock art of Bohuslan in a very persuasive way. Sophisticated theoretical explorations are combined with meticulous field measurements and analysis; the resulting conclusions are well grounded in the available evidence. The work represents a significant advance in our understanding of these seafaring communities and their relationships with the maritime rock art motifs in this particular region of Sweden. The value of incorporating rock art (with its fixed position in the landscape) into the wider archaeological analysis is clearly demonstrated, and amplified by the luxury of a relatively refined chronology. In this respect, the study is extremely successful-in some other respects, however, it is also somewhat restricted. Other parts of Scandinavia are only briefly considered and there are passing references to studies in Britain, but what are the implications for communities that produced rock art elsewhere? How might non-maritime and abstract motifs fit within Ling's scheme? Some mention is made of the ubiquitous cup mark, but it is unclear how this might relate to the other images present. These are questions for future studies. Since the initial publication of this work, its key concepts have become familiar to many rock art researchers. It is a testament to the clarity and strength of the evidence presented that the ideas advanced are now generally acknowledged, widely cited and have provided the impetus for other studies. This republication will surely elevate Swedish rock art still further, increasing its visibility and perhaps changing the perceptions of a wider audience; no doubt it will inspire new travellers to launch their own voyages of discovery. -- Antiquity Antiquity

Author Information

Johan Ling is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History in Gothenburg. His research interests are primarily in rock art, its chronology and landscapes, particularly the relationship between rock art and shore displacement in Bronze Age Sweden; and in the use of lead isotope analyses on bronze items to investigate the possibility of copper extraction in Sweden at that time.

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