Abstract
Researchers have long discussed whether Scandinavian rock art reflects narratives. Their interpretations have frequently been based on inspections of rock art panels combined with knowledge from ethnographic and historical sources. Here, the authors adopt a more focused narratological approach that takes the concept of (visual) narrativity into consideration and draws on studies by literary analysts, cognitive psychologists, and semioticians. Images of spear use in the provinces of Bohuslän and Östergötland in Sweden, given their diversity and indexical qualities, are well-suited to such a study. They reveal different kinds of indexical relationships, i.e. how the spears direct attention to possible targets, arguably corresponding to action scripts well-known to Bronze Age communities. Many spear images may be regarded as mini-narratives and mnemonic devices intended to represent schematized action sequences. The authors suggest that concepts such as iconicity, indexical relationships, scripts, and mini-narratives could be fruitfully employed in research on Scandinavian rock art and beyond.
Highlights
Rock art in southern Scandinavia reveals detailed and expressive images, including ships, animals and humans, and human activities such as big game hunting and combat
Researchers arguing for the existence of visual narratives in rock art, comparing images to ethnographic and historical sources, have tended to be concerned with the possible symbolic content of the images, though without satisfactory theoretical considerations explaining how narratives may be expressed by images
We believe that a promising point of departure would be to first attempt to clarify the concept of narrativity by drawing on the approaches of literary analysts, semioticians, and cognitive psychologists
Summary
Rock art in southern Scandinavia reveals detailed and expressive images, including ships, animals and humans, and human activities such as big game hunting and combat. On the other hand, are not thought to identify specific individuals, but are considered indicative of feelings and emotions (Fredell, 2003: 179–84) As this overview shows, a common approach in past rock art research concerned with its narrative aspects has been to analyse images as symbolic signs; that is, where the relation between the expression and its content is conventional and culturally specific. Bronze Age rock carvings in southern Scandinavia depict a variety of weapons, including swords, shields, axes, spears, and bows with hafted arrows (Figure 1) Such representations come in two forms: as objects depicted full-size or as objects in miniaturized images, often held by human figures. In cases where there is a target (rows 1–6), an indexical relationship exists between
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
