The legacy of Scandinavian rock art is prolific and varied, and although records of individual panels began in the early seventeenth century, new discoveries continue to provide the stimulus for fresh interpretation. Decorated outcrops in the Alta Fjord, near the Arctic Circle in Norway, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List since 1985, while those around Tanum, in Sweden’s northern Bohuslän, have been inscribed since 1994 in recognition of their ‘outstanding universal value’. However, as Andreas Toreld reminds us (Chapter 14), over 1,600 sites are known in Bohuslän, western Sweden, alone, with 160 of these in the parish of Brastad where renewed fieldwork in 2009–10 has led to a new interpretation of both long-known and previously unknown figures of sword-wielding warriors. Similar smooth, open-air rock faces pecked with characteristic designs of animals, people, ships, vehicles, weapons and many other forms are widely distributed throughout Scandinavia, from Alta, in the north, to Germany, in the south, and their modern host countries have responded in various ways to the challenge of curating the images. In 2006, a national archive was established at the University of Gothenburg with a remit to create an accessible database for rock art documentation and research, and it is that institution (the SHFA, or Svenskt HällristningsForskingsarkiv) that initiated the publication of the Swedish Rock Art Series through Oxbow Books, in Oxford.
The volume noted here is the third in the series: the first was concerned with sites in Uppland (Ling Reference Ling2012) and the second with those in northern Bohuslän (Ling Reference Ling2014). Such is the rate of publication that two more volumes have already appeared: they provide insights into contemporaneous environments (Nimura Reference Nimura2015) and chronology (Skoglund Reference Skoglund2016). While the four other volumes in the series are by individual authors, Picturing the Bronze Age is an edited collection of papers that were mainly presented at an international symposium held at Tanum in 2012.
The papers are varied in their scope and breadth, but are not geographically restricted to Sweden, inviting instead debate from a broader, West European perspective. Five of the authors were based in Sweden, four from Britain, four from Spain, two from Italy and one from Denmark – each of these countries having its own repertoire of Bronze Age art in different media, sometimes with similar-looking images.
The hosts, Johan Ling, Peter Skoglund and Ulf Bertilsson, provide an introduction (Chapter 1), while Bertilsson presents the remarkable history of recording in Bohuslän that started with Peter Alfsön’s watercolour of 1627 (Chapter 2). The early nineteenth-century contribution of Carl George Brunius is later outlined by Jarl Nordbladh (Chapter 10).
Ancient social contact between Scandinavia and Europe is explored in several ways. Richard Bradley contrasts the contemporaneous imagery on metalwork and rock panels, suggesting that they represent ‘two different ways of expressing and transmitting religious beliefs’ (Chapter 4). In a far-reaching paper, Johan Ling and Michael Rowlands suggest that changes in Scandinavian rock art reflect social processes, especially the development of maritime institutions for the maintenance of metal supplies, and latterly reflect the adoption of a pan-European warrior ‘code’ (Chapter 8). Peter Skoglund also suggests that changes in the imagery of Scandinavian rock art sites through time reflect broader changes in society and its mythology (Chapter 13).
Comparisons with Valcamonica, in Italy, feature heavily in three papers: Lynne Bevan considers phallic imagery in the context of gendered themes, and the concept of ‘hyper-masculinity’ (Chapter 3). The paper by Alberto Marretta is based on images portrayed on bronze and stone, and suggests that certain figures and the themes they represent demonstrate robust links across wide geographic areas and time (Chapter 9). Similarly, Umberto Sansoni highlights the similarities between certain images in the Alpine and Scandinavian repertoires, arguing that they represent cultural contacts over long distances (Chapter 11).
Two papers focus on Galicia, in north-west Spain. Relationships between inhabitation sites, the setting of decorated sites and the ways that they may have been used are examined by R Fábregas Valcarce and C Rodríguez-Rellán (Chapter 5), while Manuel Santos-Estévez and Alejandro Güimil-Fariña discuss the location of Atlantic-style sites that overlook the natural harbours of the Rias Baixas (Chapter 12). The theme of landscape setting is also examined by Louise Felding for some of the 1,027 Danish rock art sites (Chapter 6). Moving to Kilmartin, in Scotland, Andrew Meirion Jones questions the literal interpretation of the well-known images of ‘axes’ (Chapter 7).
The prehistoric traditions of creating images on open-air rock faces is well-known as a truly pan-European phenomenon. However, its importance in demonstrating local distinctiveness, shared concepts or wider social structures is frequently only brought out through collaborative international research. This volume makes a significant contribution to such endeavours, much to the credit of the SHFA, and it is hoped that such international debate will continue, helping us to understand better the meaning and function of the evocative figures. While other publications in the Swedish Rock Art series focus on the home country, this volume crucially increases our awareness of the broader context.
