Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway
Research suggests that the World Heritage rock engravings in Alta, Northern Norway, were made along the seashore over a period of 5000 years. The postglacial rebound and consequent land uplift have caused a continuous displacement of the shoreline, now situating the earliest rock art panels up to 26...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/20936 https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21832 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/20936 2023-05-15T14:26:06+02:00 Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway Tansem, Karin Storemyr, Per 2020-12-14 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/20936 https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21832 eng eng Wiley Tansem, K. (2022). Helleristningene i Alta: Estetikken, geologien og figurene. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/27381 . Geoarchaeology Tansem, Storemyr. Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway. Geoarchaeology. 2020:1-21 FRIDAID 1885530 doi:10.1002/gea.21832 0883-6353 1520-6548 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/20936 openAccess Copyright 2020 The Author(s) VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed publishedVersion 2020 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21832 2022-11-17T00:01:31Z Research suggests that the World Heritage rock engravings in Alta, Northern Norway, were made along the seashore over a period of 5000 years. The postglacial rebound and consequent land uplift have caused a continuous displacement of the shoreline, now situating the earliest rock art panels up to 26 m above sea level. By examining the rock surfaces at Hjemmeluft and other sites, using field observations and geological analyses, we found that the pronounced red bedrock surfaces in the current seashore zone are composed of inorganic iron films related to a high content of magnetite in the native sandstone. Coupled with an interpretation of regional environmental history, we also found that it is highly likely that the rock art was originally carved on rocks with red iron films, rocks that are now generally gray. Due to the land uplift and subsequent covering of the rock art with lichen, moss, and turf, the red color has waned at the rock art sites. This knowledge may renew interpretation and understanding of the location of rock art in Alta and may have implications for conservation and management. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Northern Norway University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Alta Arctic Norway Geoarchaeology 36 2 314 334 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450 |
spellingShingle |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450 Tansem, Karin Storemyr, Per Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
topic_facet |
VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Geosciences: 450 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Geofag: 450 |
description |
Research suggests that the World Heritage rock engravings in Alta, Northern Norway, were made along the seashore over a period of 5000 years. The postglacial rebound and consequent land uplift have caused a continuous displacement of the shoreline, now situating the earliest rock art panels up to 26 m above sea level. By examining the rock surfaces at Hjemmeluft and other sites, using field observations and geological analyses, we found that the pronounced red bedrock surfaces in the current seashore zone are composed of inorganic iron films related to a high content of magnetite in the native sandstone. Coupled with an interpretation of regional environmental history, we also found that it is highly likely that the rock art was originally carved on rocks with red iron films, rocks that are now generally gray. Due to the land uplift and subsequent covering of the rock art with lichen, moss, and turf, the red color has waned at the rock art sites. This knowledge may renew interpretation and understanding of the location of rock art in Alta and may have implications for conservation and management. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tansem, Karin Storemyr, Per |
author_facet |
Tansem, Karin Storemyr, Per |
author_sort |
Tansem, Karin |
title |
Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
title_short |
Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
title_full |
Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
title_fullStr |
Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway |
title_sort |
red-coated rocks on the seashore: the esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in alta, arctic norway |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/20936 https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21832 |
geographic |
Alta Arctic Norway |
geographic_facet |
Alta Arctic Norway |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Northern Norway |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Northern Norway |
op_relation |
Tansem, K. (2022). Helleristningene i Alta: Estetikken, geologien og figurene. (Doctoral thesis). https://hdl.handle.net/10037/27381 . Geoarchaeology Tansem, Storemyr. Red-coated rocks on the seashore: The esthetics and geology of prehistoric rock art in Alta, Arctic Norway. Geoarchaeology. 2020:1-21 FRIDAID 1885530 doi:10.1002/gea.21832 0883-6353 1520-6548 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/20936 |
op_rights |
openAccess Copyright 2020 The Author(s) |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21832 |
container_title |
Geoarchaeology |
container_volume |
36 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
314 |
op_container_end_page |
334 |
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1766298580109230080 |