Author: Günther, Helena.
Title: The rhythm of rock art animal. Picturing reindeer, elk and bear around the seasonal cycle in Stone Age Alta.
Description: Stockholm, Stockholm Universitet, [2022]. 202 pp. Col. & b./w. ills. Orig. softcover (pictorial wrappers). 4to. (Stockholm Studies in Archaeology 80). Academic thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Archaeology at the Stockholm University, February 18, 2022. - The Stone Age rock art of Fennoscandia is dominated by pictures of animals. Yet it is its role in the social and cognitive processes within human society that has been the major focus for research. In the thesis, rock art is explored in the lives of people as being part of a larger ecological community. It deals with Alta, Finnmark, Norway in particular but other sites are part of the discussions. The purpose is to study the role of rock art in the interface between people and the animals most often depicted - reindeer, elk and bear - in the two oldest phases of Alta; phase I 5200-4200 and phase II 4200-3000 BC. This is achieved by working from the ground up with animals, depictions of them and with experience and knowledge of human - animal and human - environmental relations found among small-scale hunting groups of the north. A method inspired by ethology is developed and a study of ca 1000 reindeer, 200 elk and 100 bears based on their physiognomy, behaviour, sociality and interactions is presented.

Keywords: Archaeology Scandinavia Walldrawings Archeologie Scandinavië Rotstekeningen