The rhythm of rock art animals : Picturing reindeer, elk and bear around the seasonal cycle in Stone Age Alta

Abstract: 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. The study shows that picturing animals as encountered in physical reality was an intrinsic part of rock art imagery. Animals act and interact in structured ways that differ between species, suggesting different roles for different animals, and that change over time. Around 4200 BC the seasonal focus goes through changes. In phase I, a majority of the groups of reindeer can be associated with autumn while most groups of elk belong in winter. In phase II, most groups of elk and reindeer are pictured in spring, waterfowl is a new motif, and boats, which have increased are more often associated with reindeer than with fishing or hunting at sea. In contrast to phase I, very little hunting or control of animals is depicted in phase II.The shift in imagery is framed within the conditions of life in the northern environment. Building on traditional knowledge and applying a zoo semiotic theoretical framework, it is argued that rock art can not be reduced to an entirely inter-human affair. It is suggested that people were contacting animals as simultaneously embodied and spiritual beings where the images operated in the fluidity between the real and imagery and the real and the potential. Taking imagery at face value, in phase I a major theme was the meeting between people and reindeer in the autumn hunt. In phase II this could no longer be expected and the images of females in spring point to a concern for reproduction and the return of animal life. The lack of human interference in phase II suggests a change of attitude towards the roles of humans in a life intertwined with animals, especially reindeer, where this role is weakened.A conclusion rendered by the method is that animals meanings are contextualised and situated. They are not confined to large abstractions or primarily displaying symbolic systems or cosmological models. This does not mean that there are no culturally patterned meanings to different animal species, there are, but these are deeply embedded in embodied animals and their lifecycles over the year.