Shoreline displacement chronology of rock paintings at Lake Saimaa, eastern Finland

Abstract

Finnish hunter-gatherer rock paintings are situated on steep cliff faces that typically face onto bodies of water. Because of isostatic land uplift and lake level changes some rock paintings are situated several metres above present day lake level. Using the shoreline displacement history of Lake Saimaa, a relative chronology of different rock painting motifs is presented. There has hitherto been almost no study of diachronic change in Finnish rock-art motifs. This study presents some general stylistic and orientational shifts in the rock painting tradition, shifts that are most pronounced mostly towards the end of Subneolithic period; pictorial display seems to become more one-sided and schematic towards the end of the rock painting tradition from 2500 Cal BC onwards. Changes seem relatively synchronous throughout the Lake Saimaa catchment. Thereafter the painting tradition diminishes as Early Metal Period ceramic styles and early agriculture becomes more established in the area after 2000 Cal BC. These ...