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Transforming the Rocks – Time and Rock Art in Bohuslän, Sweden

Bibliographic Data

ID7175263
AuthorsChristian Horn (0000-0001-8042-3748, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, corresponding author), Rich Potter (0000-0002-3966-5080, University of Gothenburg)
Year2017
Volume21
Issue3
Pages361-384
Publication date2017-08-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-9571 • E-ISSN: 1741-2722
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/eaa.2017.38
OpenAlexW2745303889
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited21

Human representations are one of the most important groups of depictions in rock art in southern Scandinavia. These humans have long been discussed as complete, stable, and temporally-fixed images. The results of a new survey challenge this view. Recording rock art with Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) enabled us to discern a possible sequence of production of individual human representations, their bodily features, and associated objects. Figures from a rock art site in Finntorp (Tanum, Sweden) will be used as an example. Differences in the dimensions of the engraved lines, the chronology of the depicted objects, and the placement of body parts suggest that several individuals may have been involved in making human representations on the rocks, and that their appearance as complete figures is the result of repeated transformations. The results presented demonstrate that Scandinavian rock art is not stable in time. We suggest that rock art is best understood as the creation of communities over time, which enables them to engage with the past by transforming the rocks

Archaeology · Art · Biology · Chronology · Rock art · Sequence (biology · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Image Processing and 3D Reconstruction · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology

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Unique citing works17
Citations per year2,13
Citation span2018 - 2025 (8)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 14
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