Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings
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Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys ry - Finska Fornminnesföreningen rf The Finnish Antiquarian Society ISKOS 15 Helsinki 2008 Publisher: The Finnish Antiquarian Society Helsinki Cover design: Mikael E.T. Manninen Layout: Antti Lahelma Printed in Waasa Graphics Oy, Vaasa 2008 A Touch of Red Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings Antti Lahelma To Margit A TOUCH OF RED: ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACHES TO INTERPRETING FINNISH ROCK PAINTINGS PREFACE...............................................................................................................................6 LIST OF PAPERS...............................................................................................................................8 ABStraCT.........................................................................................................................9 1 INtrODUCTION...........................................................................................................................10 1.1 The main research questions.....................................................................................................10 1.2 Methods used..........................................................................................................................11 1.2.1 Informed methods..............................................................................................................12 1.2.2 Formal methods..................................................................................................................12 1.2.3 General analogy....................................................................................................................14 1.3 Sources...................................................................................................................................14 1.4 Structure of the dissertation......................................................................................................15 2 LOCatION, SUBJECT MattER AND DatING......................................................................................18 2.1 Finnish rock paintings and the ‘circumpolar rock art belt’ ...........................................................18 2.2 Location and geographical distribution....................................................................................20 2.3 The range of motifs...................................................................................................................23 2.3.1 Anthropomorphs.................................................................................................................25 2.3.2 Cervids................................................................................................................................25 2.3.3 Boats...................................................................................................................................25 2.3.4 Non-cervid animals..............................................................................................................26 2.3.5 Geometric figures and handprints..........................................................................................27 2.4 A short history of research.........................................................................................................28 2.4.1 Beginnings..........................................................................................................................28 2.4.2 The decades of professional research (1960s and 70s)..............................................................30 2.4.3 The amateurs take over (1980s and 90s)...................................................................................30 2.4.4 Recent developments...........................................................................................................31 2.5 How old is the art?.....................................................................................................................33 2.5.1 Shoreline dating of rock paintings..........................................................................................33 2.5.2 Iconographic parallels..........................................................................................................35 2.5.3 Associated finds...................................................................................................................37 2.5.4 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................40 2.6 Dating changes in motif types....................................................................................................41 2.7 Prehistoric cultural context......................................................................................................42 3 INTERPREtatION.........................................................................................................................45 3.1 Previous interpretations..........................................................................................................45 3.2 Initial hypothesis.....................................................................................................................48 3.3 The concept of ‘shamanism’.....................................................................................................49 3.4 Reading Finnish rock art...........................................................................................................51 3.4.1 Elk and human figures..........................................................................................................52 3.4.2 Boats...................................................................................................................................56 3.4.3 Geometric figures.................................................................................................................57 3.5 “A touch of red”........................................................................................................................59 4 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................62 REFERENCES................................................................................................................................65 APPENDIX 1: The account of a Saami shamanic séance in Historia Norvegiae.............................................192 APPENDIX 2: A list of figures represented in Finnish rock paintings.........................................................194 APPENDIX 3: A catalogue of Finnish rock painting sites known in 2007...................................................200 PREFACE “Why rock paintings?”, I have often been asked. “What is so interesting about those prehistoric doodles?” At first I, too, was rather unimpressed. When I began studying archaeology in 1994, the Finnish rock paintings seemed too unsophisticated and simple to be of any great interest. I was planning to concentrate on Ancient Mesoamerica, the Minoan civilization or something similar - regions and cultures that were socially more complex and, it seemed to me, had a completely different kind of character and appeal than the hunter-gatherers of the Boreal zone. My interest in hunter-gatherer rock art was first awakened by the publication of Pekka Kivikäs’ book Kalliomaalaukset - muinainen kuva-arkisto (‘Rock paintings: an ancient pic- ture archive’) in 1995, which raised a considerable amount of interest in the Finnish media and among the general public. In his book, he calls the art “silent pictures” and writes that it demands from the spectator an ability to slow down, be silent and listen. Although trained as a high school arts teacher, he admits that he, too, had at first failed to concentrate and had felt a little disappointed with the rock paintings. Little by little, however, he became more and more captivated by their mystery. The same has happened to me, and I hope that this dissertation can convey - in addition to the theories and factual information - something of the deep fascination I have felt in my encounters with the paintings. Although it is easy at first to dismiss rock art as an incomprehensible and unexciting thing of the past, I suspect that anyone who makes the effort to understand it will be rewarded, because hunter-gatherer rock art carries messages that are universal in the fullest sense of the word. It reflects the thoughts and worldview of an era - the hunter-gatherer Stone Age - that was of fundamental significance to human evolution and which, therefore, is still today reflected in the behaviour, dreams and desires of all human beings. These messages often appear incom- prehensible, but they can nonetheless have a deep emotional impact, because they show us a glimpse of the world in which our species developed but which has now almost completely disappeared. This book is dedicated to my wife, Margit Granberg, who has somehow endured my obses- sion with rock art during the past three years, accompanied me on field trips and excavations, and helped me to relax and shrug off my frustrations and bad moods resulting from too much work. I am also deeply grateful to my parents, Timo and Marjo-Riitta Lahelma, who have never seriously disputed my questionable career choice and have offered me financial security in times of need. From a more academic point of view, I owe much to my two supervisors, professors Mika Lavento (University of Helsinki) and Knut Helskog (Tromsø