Elevated rock art Johan Ling Elevated rock art Towards a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän, Sweden Johan Ling Elevated rock art – towards a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän, Sweden GOTARC Serie B. Gothenburg Archaeological Thesis 49 © Johan Ling Front cover: Tracing of Tanum 192 by RockCare Back cover: Photo by Johan Ling and Joakim Goldhahn ISSN 0282-6860 ISBN 978-91-85245-34-8 Tryck: Dedication To my family and kin Abstract Ling, Johan. 2008. Elevated rock art – towards a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän, Sweden. GOTARC Serie B. Gothenburg Archaeological Thesis 49. Gothen- burg. The main focus of this dissertation is the issue of how Bohuslän rock art and landscape may be perceived and understood. Since the Bronze Age, the landscape has been transformed by shore displacement but in the research tradition this has attracted very little attention. Furthermore, due to a misunderstanding of shore displacement but also to 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. The perception of the landscape has not been a major issue. This thesis accordingly 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. These conditions make it possible to apply new perspectives to Bohuslän rock art. Much rock art analysis focuses on the contemplative observer and elaborates this theme. The more direct acti- vities related to rock art are seldom fully considered. I therefore discuss the basic conditions for the production of rock art and then move on to discuss social theory and approaches to image, commu- nication, symbolism and social action, related to the palpable social forms of the “reading” of rock art. When considering rock art, it is the social praxis in the landscape that is of primary importance. Moreover, since Oscar Almgren there has been a tendency to picture the groups in Bohuslän as pas- sive and immobile agriculturalists, performing rituals on the rocks. However, the sparse evidence points instead to a more complex pattern of utilisation and social praxis. 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. The thesis emphasises that Bronze Age groups in Bohuslän were highly active and mobile. The nume- rous 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. Keywords: Rock art, Bronze Age, Scandinavia, Bohuslän, maritime praxis, terrestrial, thought style, shore displacement, seascape, social praxis, iconic order, social position, social transition Contents xi : Abbreviations xiii : Preface 0 : Part I – Launching 1. Introduction – the rock art phenomenon in northern Bohuslän 1 : Introduction 2 : “Finding the lost sea” 4 : Aims 4 : Temporal and spatial limitations 2 . A general picture of the Bronze Age in Bohuslän 5 : Bronze Age conditions in Bohuslän 6 : Investigations at rock art sites 6 : Households and metallurgic activity 7 : Graves 8 : Bronze items and flint daggers 8 : Conclusion 3. Social landscapes 9 : Introduction 11 : Conclusion 13 : Part II – Embarking 4. The terrestrial paradigm: history of reseach 15 : Introduction 16 : Theory 16 : Paradigm and thought style 18 : Conditions and questions 18 : A history of landscape and rock art research 19 : The perception of geology and landscape among 19th century antiquarians 20 : The landscape via the rock art image 22 : The shore-connected rock art 23 : Land uplift and the landscape 25 : The image via the landscape 29 : Modification of the terrestrial paradigm 31 : The sea is advancing 33 : Conclusion 5. Rock art and seascapes in South Scandinavia 35 : Introduction 36 : West Norwegian rock art 39 : Högsbyn in Dalsland 42 : The Simris area in Scania 44 : Conclusion 6. Shore displacement, tides and altitudes 47 : Introduction 47 : The shore displacement phenomenon 49 : Dating and estimating shore displacement 50 : Shore displacement in Bohuslän 51 : Aims and outcome of the new shore displacement studies in the Tanum and Kville areas 55 : Altitudes and tides 7. Rock art chronology and seascape in Bohuslän 59 : Introduction 59 : Rock art chronologies: traditions and concepts 61 : Chronological standpoint 63 : The analysis 64 : The general setting of the rock art in relation to shore displacement 65 : The specific chronological setting of ship features in the landscape 65 : The Kungälv area (Solberga 50) 72 : The Uddevalla area, Utby (Herrestad 58:1–5) 75 : Maritime rock art at the Stångenäset isthmus (Bro 622, 636, Brastad 123) 76 : The Sotenäset area (Tossene 107) 79 : The Svarteborg area (Svarteborg 13) 83 : The Kville area (Kville 172, 114) 87 : The Tanum area, “Runohäll,” at Ryk (Tanum 311) 91 : The vertical cliff at Tyft (Tanum 234) 92 : A low-lying panel in the Kalleby area (Tanum 425) 94 : The “Wismar and Kivik” panel in Kalleby (Tanum 427) 98 : Rock art sites in the Orrekläpp area (Tanum 241, 369) 99 : A tentative ship chronology of the landscape 102 : Conclusion 8. Modeling landscapes and seascapes in the Tanum area 107 : Introduction 107 : Aims 111 : The landscape and Bronze Age in Tanum 114 : Maritime models of the Vitlycke area (Tanum 1, 833) 117 : The Aspeberget area – a maritime aggregation site? (Tanum 17, 19, 120) 123 : Terrestrial landscapes and images at Tanum 33 125 : Sea shores and rock art in the Tegneby area, Bostället (Tanum, 48, 61–64, 105:3, 345, 346 and 490) 127 : Ships and seascapes at Skatteklåvan in the Tegneby area (Tanum 65-67) 133 : Embarking and disembarking by Bro Utmark (Tanum 192) 136 : Reconstructing Tanum 311– a maritime approach 140 : Maritime positions in the Kyrkoryk and Ryk area (Tanum 213, 216, 217, 219, 321, 325, 335, 336) 142 : Revisiting the vertical cliff at Tyft (Tanum 236) 144 : Landscapes and seascapes in the Kalleby area (Tanum 425, 427, 419, 944, 420, 421, 418, 417) 146 : Concluding remarks 159 : Part III – Social and Maritime praxis 9. Social practice and rock art 161 : Introduction 161 : Background 162 : Ships in rock art, in graves and on bronze items 165 : The production of rock art 166 : Social practice, analogies and fictions 167 : Ideology and social theory 169 : Material and spiritual production 171 : Palaeolithic rock art and Marxism 172 : Later Marxist approaches 173 : Rock art between practice and structure 175 : Images, symbols and social action 175 : Image, speech, social praxis and social communication 176 : The symbological project 178 : The social dimension of rock art images 179 : Depictions of social environments and actions 180 : Depictions of social positions and social rhetoric 181 : Depictions of “iconic” features or elements 182 : Concluding remarks 10. From terrestrial ships to war canoes 185 : Introduction 185 : Background 187 : General features of the rock art ships 189 : General outcome of the proportional study; codes of dimension 191 : The Early Bronze Age ship images 193 : The Late Bronze Age ship images 196 : The Pre Roman Iron Age ship images 197 : Depictions of social realities 199 : Helmsmen and steering rods 202 : Depictions of social and ritual positions 203 : Warriors, acrobats, adorants, and lure blowers 204 : Spatial and social aspects of the ship 205 : Conclusion 11 : Rock art and society 209 : Introduction 209 : The concept of chiefdom and the Bronze Age 212 : “Too many chiefs and not enough Indians” 213 : Ideas of social transformation during the Early Bronze Age 214 : Chiefdoms during the Late Bronze Age 216 : Rock images of chiefs, aggrandizers, commoners or girots? 219 : Material and ecological conditions of Bohuslän Bronze Age social formations 220 : Praxis, production and ideology 221 : Fishing 222 : Maritime trade, barter, communication 224 : Maritime warfare 225 : Maritime rituals and ceremonies 226 : Boat-building 227 : Discussion 228 : Dual social praxis, positions and transitions in Bronze Age Bohuslän 230 : Conclusions 12. Maritime transitions 231 : Introduction 232 : Rock art in a maritime zone 233 : Maritime transitions and rituals by the sea 235 : Rock art and maritime mobility 236 : Rock art as a traveler’s picture 236 : The sea in the rock and the rock in the sea 237 : The ships on the rocks 240 : Maritime performances 242 : Coda 243 : Part IV – Disembarking 13. Summary 245 : Towards a maritime understanding of rock art in northern Bohuslän 14. References 257 : A–Ö 268 : Personal communications 15. Appendixes 269 : Appendix 2: Measured rock art sites from Bohuslän CD : Appendixes 1 and 3. Abbreviations LN = Late Neolithic (2350–1700 BC) LN I = Late Neolithic I (2350–1950 BC) LN II = Late Neolithic II (1950–1700 BC) BA = Bronze Age (1700–500 BC) EBA = Early Bronze Age (1700–1100 BC) Period I = (1700–1500 BC) Period II = (1500–1300 BC) Period III = (1300–1100 BC) LBA = Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC) Period IV = (1100–900 BC) Period V = (900–700 BC) Period VI = (700–500 BC) PRIA = Pre Roman Iron Age (500–1 BC) ATA = Antikvariskt Topografiskt Arkiv, Stockholm FMIS = Information from the Swedish National Heritage Boards sites and monuments register GAM = Göteborgs Arkeologiska Museum, Göteborgs StadsMuseum m.a.s.l = Metres above present sea level RAÄ = Riksantikvarieämbetet, the Swedish National Heritage Boards sites and monuments register SHFA = Svenskt HällristningsForskningsArkiv, Tanumshede VM = The Vitlycke Museum Archive, Tanumshede Rock art sites are identified as, for instance, Tanum 1, Herrestad 58, i.e.