Rock carvings in Sweden
The rock carvings in Sweden ( Swedish : Hällbilder, Hällristningar or Hällmålningar ) represent the richest image material from the north of prehistoric Europe. Older research saw them mostly as religious documents from the Bronze Age (around 1500–500 BC). According to recent research, these are not only depictions of cult rituals, but also depictions of social reality and social hierarchies. The production of the rock paintings required a lot of effort, so that their installation must have been an important concern for their creators. Regional peculiarities show that they are thanks to the local population and non-traveling artists.
Except for the North Scandinavian examples belonging to the arctic art of hunting, which were also applied by means of paint, the pictures are carved into rocks. Rocks prepared by glacial grinding offered ideal projection levels for this. However, the hard material set limits to the form of expression.
description
The images are sunk a few millimeters into the rock. Because of the shallow depth, some images are difficult to see. Only the so-called bowls are several centimeters deep. The edges are always broken in the brittle granite or gneiss , but the motifs do not appear blurred. As a rule, however, it is not possible to determine whether the images were post-processed at a later point in time. Mostly an unprepared stone was used as a tool with which the pictures were hammered or picked. Quartzites in particular could have been used for this. That certainly applies to the two-dimensional images. The picture has been dug out and appears as a negative in the rock. Such pictures only exceptionally contain internal structures. This technology is mainly used in eastern Scandinavia.
Occasionally the use of a pointed, perhaps even metal, tool can be seen. This applies to images that were created as outlines - a process that was preferred in western Scandinavia. The pictures at Högsby in Dalsland, where the pending slate was suitable for this technique, are incised throughout. Very finely drawn images can also be ground in. The contemporary bronze is unsuitable for this. A hard alloy containing more tin would be conceivable.
On Bornholm and on the Scandinavian peninsula, almost exclusively rocks are illustrated. In Denmark and northern Germany, on the other hand, boulders ( Engelstrupstenen ) were selected due to the lack of massive outcrops . Since the available areas on stones were smaller, they were usually only decorated with a few characters or a free-standing motif.
distribution
There are rock carvings in Norway and in all southern and central Swedish provinces with the exception of Närke . In Värmland they were only observed on the Värmlandsnäs peninsula in Vänern . Petroglyphs are particularly numerous :
- in the northern Bohuslän ( Massleberg ) to Østfold in Norway ,
- around Enköping in the southwest of Uppland ,
- Rock carvings from Himmelstalund in the area around Norrköping in central Östergötland
- in southeastern Skåne (near Simrishamn ).
- at Nämforsen (rapids) in Ångermanland , drawings of northern (hunter) and southern Scandinavian (peasant) type meet.
The rock carvings from Släbro are special Bronze Age rock carvings northwest of Nyköping in Södermanland County .
The scratch concentrations are:
- in the parish of Tisselskog, in Dalsland ,
- on the coast northwest of Västervik , ( Småland ),
- Horsahallen in the parish of Torhamn, in eastern Blekinge .
Outside these areas, individual rock carvings occur on the mainland as well as on Öland and Gotland . However, the limestone subsoil on the islands is unsuitable for permanently preserving this type of monument.
The main motifs are the same in the different areas. There are, however, variations in the details and execution. Some motifs are formative for certain areas and are missing in others. Some images are monumental in size, others are almost tiny. Remarkable figure size characterizes many carvings in Bohuslän, which are also the best known. Primarily represented are: people, agriculture and animal husbandry, hunting and catching, cult and religion (e.g. the sun in the form of the wheel cross ), and the associated bike and cart, ships and weapons.
The variation in Bohuslän is very large. Depictions of ships with numerous strokes team one behind or above the other taken, alternate with images sword - or axttragender men, even horsemen. There are adorants with raised arms and spread fingers, luras and dancers. Pictures of wild animals and domestic animals ( bulls ) as well as wagons and plowers make the connection to agriculture. In contrast, no house pictures were observed.
See also
- Rock carvings by Tanum
- Rock carvings by Boglösa
- Rock carvings by Högsbyn
- Slagsta rock carving
- Rock paintings in Västerbotten County
literature
- Torsten Capelle : Carved in stone. Scandinavian rock art from the Bronze Age. (= Booklets accompanying exhibitions in the Prehistory Department of the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. Volume 1). Lax, Hannover (recte: Hildesheim) 1985, ISBN 3-7848-1009-8 .
- Johan Ling : Elevated rock art. Towards a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern Bohuslän, Sweden. (= GOTARC, Series B: Gothenburg Archaeological Theses. Volume 49). 2nd Edition. Göteborgs Universitet, Institut för Arkeologi och Antikens Kultur, Göteborg 2008, ISBN 978-91-85245-34-8 .
- Jarl Nordbladh: Bronze Age rock carvings in Sweden: Distribution - dating - interpretation. In: Friedrich Schlette , Dieter Kaufmann (Eds.): Religion and Cult in Prehistoric and Early History , Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-05-000662-5 , pp. 203-210.