Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art - Jan Magne Gjerde

Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art - Jan Magne Gjerde

Snowscapes of Rock Art: Seasons and Seasonality of Stone Age Rock Art in Northernmost Europe

Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art - Jan Magne Gjerde

Jan Magne Gjerde [+-]
Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research
Jan Magne Gjerde is Researcher in Archaeology at the High North Department in Tromsø at NIKU (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research). Gjerde has a PhD in Stone Age rock art of Fennoscandia with extensive fieldwork in Finland, Norway, NW-Russia and Sweden. Gjerde has in the last years published several papers on Fennoscandian Stone Age rock art. He also led the large-scale Stone Age excavations at Tønsnes, Northern Norway in 2011 and 2012. Gjerde is currently working on the project “Stone Age Demographics: Multi-scale exploration of population variation and dynamics” (2017-2021) funded by the Norwegian Research Council.

Description

Natural temporal changes in the landscape were of vital importance to hunter-fisher- gatherers in the circumpolar area. The natural surroundings, activities and ways of living of the hunter-fisher-gatherers would have changed dramatically with the seasons of the year. These changes are represented in the rock art by depictions of ‘seasonal’ or migrating animals, indicating the time of year. The majority of the Stone Age rock art sites would have been accessible throughout the year. Those in the tidal zone and near rapids would have been free of snow during the winter months, while paintings on vertical rock cliffs would have been exposed and even more visible and accessible in winter. Based on comprehensive fieldwork in Fennoscandia, studying rock art sites and their locations, I argue that temporal changes in nature have implications for the documentation and interpretation of the Stone Age rock art and rock art sites of northernmost Europe, as well as Stone Age landscapes and geographical knowledge.

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Citation

Gjerde, Jan Magne. Snowscapes of Rock Art: Seasons and Seasonality of Stone Age Rock Art in Northernmost Europe. Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 97-112 Apr 2021. ISBN 9781781795606. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=31912. Date accessed: 09 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.31912. Apr 2021

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