Rock Art Through Time: Scanian rock carvings in the Bronze Age and Earliest Iron Age

As in many other areas in south Scandinavia, the region surrounding the city of Simrishamn in south-east Scania has a great many Bronze Age mounds that are still visible in the landscape, and records from the museums demonstrate that the area is rich in bronze metalwork. Nevertheless, it is the figurative rock art that makes this region stand out as distinct from surrounding areas that lack such images. The rock art constitutes a spatially well-defined tradition that covers the Bronze Age and the earliest Iron Age, c. 1700–200 BC and, although the number of sites is comparatively small, a characteristic and unusual feature is the large representation of various kinds of metal axes. Significantly these images are tightly distributed inside the core zone of metal consumption in southernmost Scandinavia. This beautifully illustrated new addition to the Swedish rock Art series presents a detailed reassessment of the Simrishamn rock art and examines the close relationship between iconography displayed on metals and that found in rock art. in so doing it raises some important questions of principle concerning the current understanding of the south Scandinavian rock art tradition.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Rock art in south-east Scania

Earlier research on rock art in south-east Scania

Methods used in the present project

Rock art chronology

Time and periodization

Reading landscapes through excavations

Interpreting rock art

The ordering of images

Images and narratives

Outline of this study

The chronological framework

The data – an overview

Phase 1, 1700–1400 BC

Phase 2, 1400–1100 BC

Phase 3, 1100–800 BC

Phase 4, 800–200 BC

Chronology on site level

Summary and perspectives

Rock art and long-distance trade, 1700–1400 BC"