A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings
Approximately 125 prehistoric rock paintings have been found in the modern territory of Finland. The paintings were done with red ochre and are almost without exception located on steep lakeshore cliffs associated with ancient water routes. Most of the sites are found in the central and eastern part...
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Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys r.y
2010
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ftunivhelsihelda:oai:helda.helsinki.fi:10138/19406 2023-08-20T04:09:29+02:00 A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings Lahelma, Antti Bradley, Richard University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Institute for Cultural Research Helsingin yliopisto, humanistinen tiedekunta, kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitos Helsingfors universitet, humanistiska fakulteten, institutionen för kulturforskning Lavento, Mika Helskog, Knut 2010-11-25T10:06:33Z application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10138/19406 eng eng Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys r.y URN:ISBN:978-951-9057-67-5 URN:ISSN:0355-3108 Iskos http://hdl.handle.net/10138/19406 URN:ISBN:978-952-10-4845-6 Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited. Publikationen är skyddad av upphovsrätten. Den får läsas och skrivas ut för personligt bruk. Användning i kommersiellt syfte är förbjuden. arkeologia Text Doctoral dissertation (article-based) Artikkeliväitöskirja Artikelavhandling doctoralThesis 2010 ftunivhelsihelda 2023-07-28T06:20:57Z Approximately 125 prehistoric rock paintings have been found in the modern territory of Finland. The paintings were done with red ochre and are almost without exception located on steep lakeshore cliffs associated with ancient water routes. Most of the sites are found in the central and eastern parts of the country, especially on the shores of Lakes Päijänne and Saimaa. Using shore displacement chronology, the art has been dated to ca. 5000 – 1500 BC. It was thus created mainly during the Stone Age and can be associated with the so-called ‘Comb Ware’ cultures of the Subneolithic period. The range of motifs is rather limited, consisting mainly of schematic depictions of stick-figure humans, elks, boats, handprints and geometric signs. Few paintings include any evidence of narrative scenes, making their interpretation a rather difficult task. In Finnish archaeological literature, the paintings have traditionally been associated with ’sympathetic’ hunting magic, or the belief that the ritual shooting of the painted animals would increase hunting luck. Some writers have also suggested totemistic and shamanistic readings of the art. This dissertation is a critical review of the interpretations offered of Finnish rock art and an exploration of the potentials of archaeological and ethnographic research in increasing our knowledge of its meaning. Methods used include ’formal’ approaches such as archaeological excavation, landscape analysis and the application of neuropsychological research to the study of rock art, as well as ethnographically ’informed’ approaches that make use of Saami and Baltic Finnish ethnohistorical sources in interpretation. In conclusion, it is argued that although North European hunter-gatherer rock art is often thought to lie beyond the reach of ‘informed’ knowledge, the exceptional continuity of prehistoric settlement in Finland validates the informed approach in the interpretation of Finnish rock paintings. The art can be confidently associated with shamanism of the kind still practiced by ... Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis saami Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto Ochre ENVELOPE(166.550,166.550,-78.233,-78.233) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto |
op_collection_id |
ftunivhelsihelda |
language |
English |
topic |
arkeologia |
spellingShingle |
arkeologia Lahelma, Antti A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
topic_facet |
arkeologia |
description |
Approximately 125 prehistoric rock paintings have been found in the modern territory of Finland. The paintings were done with red ochre and are almost without exception located on steep lakeshore cliffs associated with ancient water routes. Most of the sites are found in the central and eastern parts of the country, especially on the shores of Lakes Päijänne and Saimaa. Using shore displacement chronology, the art has been dated to ca. 5000 – 1500 BC. It was thus created mainly during the Stone Age and can be associated with the so-called ‘Comb Ware’ cultures of the Subneolithic period. The range of motifs is rather limited, consisting mainly of schematic depictions of stick-figure humans, elks, boats, handprints and geometric signs. Few paintings include any evidence of narrative scenes, making their interpretation a rather difficult task. In Finnish archaeological literature, the paintings have traditionally been associated with ’sympathetic’ hunting magic, or the belief that the ritual shooting of the painted animals would increase hunting luck. Some writers have also suggested totemistic and shamanistic readings of the art. This dissertation is a critical review of the interpretations offered of Finnish rock art and an exploration of the potentials of archaeological and ethnographic research in increasing our knowledge of its meaning. Methods used include ’formal’ approaches such as archaeological excavation, landscape analysis and the application of neuropsychological research to the study of rock art, as well as ethnographically ’informed’ approaches that make use of Saami and Baltic Finnish ethnohistorical sources in interpretation. In conclusion, it is argued that although North European hunter-gatherer rock art is often thought to lie beyond the reach of ‘informed’ knowledge, the exceptional continuity of prehistoric settlement in Finland validates the informed approach in the interpretation of Finnish rock paintings. The art can be confidently associated with shamanism of the kind still practiced by ... |
author2 |
Bradley, Richard University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Institute for Cultural Research Helsingin yliopisto, humanistinen tiedekunta, kulttuurien tutkimuksen laitos Helsingfors universitet, humanistiska fakulteten, institutionen för kulturforskning Lavento, Mika Helskog, Knut |
format |
Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
author |
Lahelma, Antti |
author_facet |
Lahelma, Antti |
author_sort |
Lahelma, Antti |
title |
A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
title_short |
A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
title_full |
A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
title_fullStr |
A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings |
title_sort |
touch of red : archaeological and ethnographic approaches to interpreting finnish rock paintings |
publisher |
Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys r.y |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10138/19406 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(166.550,166.550,-78.233,-78.233) |
geographic |
Ochre |
geographic_facet |
Ochre |
genre |
saami |
genre_facet |
saami |
op_relation |
URN:ISBN:978-951-9057-67-5 URN:ISSN:0355-3108 Iskos http://hdl.handle.net/10138/19406 URN:ISBN:978-952-10-4845-6 |
op_rights |
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited. Publikationen är skyddad av upphovsrätten. Den får läsas och skrivas ut för personligt bruk. Användning i kommersiellt syfte är förbjuden. |
_version_ |
1774722476710821888 |