Visual narratives and the depiction of whaling in north European rock art: the case of the White Sea

• Published in: Les Nouvelles de l'archéologie
• Main Author: Janik, Dr Liliana
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Editions de la maison des sciences de l'homme 2022
• Subjects: art rupestre; chasse à la baleine; chasse; mer Blanche; baleine; mammifère marin; Rock art; whaling; White Sea; hunt; whale; marine mammal; Baleine; Blanche; la Baleine; Mer Blanche
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/nda/13517

The rock art petroglyps of the White Sea represent possibly the earliest depictions of whaling in the world and allow us to understand the 6,000-years-old relationship between whales and human communities. This paper will argue that the complexity of this relationship is multifaceted and socially underpinned, and goes beyond simple killing of the whale. A number of strands in the interpretation of prehistoric images are explored: traditional indigenous knowledge; ethnographic and historical evidence; visual clues and archaeological interpretation of rock art. Hunting for whales required input from a number of individuals who did not deliver the killing blow, but without whom the whale could not be killed and fully appropriated. The whale itself can be seen as a visual localiser of community cohesion, the focus for community members and their practices (Janik 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).