A Touch of Red : Archaeological and Ethnographic Approaches to Interpreting Finnish Rock Paintings

• Main Author: Lahelma, Antti
• Other Authors: 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
• Language: English
• Published: Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys r.y 2010
• Subjects: arkeologia; Ochre; saami
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/19406

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 ...