Rock art research in Tanum (Sweden)

              Almogaren XXX / 1999 Vocklabruck 1999 329 - 338
Gerhard Milstreu*
Rock Art Research in Tanum (Sweden)
Abstract: The rock carvings in Tanum, Sweden, constitute a priceless part of
our cultural heritage of mankind and therefore have been entered up on the
UNESCO's World Heritage List. Many panels weather due to the environmen­tal
polution. An important step in preservation is to record the panels before it
becomes too late. Tanums Halristningsmuseum has throughout the years made
important contributions to this task.
At the end of the nineteen-fifties, a systematic re-documentation of the
rock art ofTanum was started at Tanums Hallristningsmuseum in Underslos
as part of an annually recurrent seminar with the purpose of spreading the
knowledge of and interest in the rock carvings in Tanum.
Until the end of the nineteen-eighties, the research consisted of thematic
documentation of diferent types of figures, for instance female figures, types
of boats, and of carvings with datable objects like types of weapons, types of
ploughs etc.
This was an efective method for giving an idea of the frequency of the
figures, which is in itself informative, and furthermore it might be used to
form the basis of dating, because many datable objects such as axes, lures,
and ploughs are depicted so precisely that they may be compared with other
finds from that period and thus date the carvings.
The environmental debate in Sweden of the late 1980s influenced rock art
research decisively. The attention was focused on the already established
problem of weathering (fig. 1 ), and the museum decided to change its fieldwork
and to employ the experience from many years of documentation work on a
systematic re-documentation of entire areas of rock carvings.
The weathering situation is described as very serious, and it is a frightening
thought that future research will have to be based on reproduced material such
as rubbings, drawings, and photos.
* Tanums Hillristningsmuseum
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Developing new methods
The degree of weathering of the rock surface varies a lot from one rock
panel to the next, and even in the same panel.
Some surfaces are intact with undamaged carvings - others are totally
weathered, so that figures have disappeared completely in places where we
know they used to be.
This situation demands a lot from the method used and from the people
using it. Naturally, an intact surface is relatively easy to document, and we can
reproduce the figures almost 100 per cent correctly. Not so when the surface
has been weathered.
The weathering makes it dificult to reproduce the original motif with abso­lute
certainty, and we must either accept a certain amount of guesswork or omit
those figures which we cannot reproduce correctly because of the weathering.
This is indeed an ethical issue, which has not yet been discussed in the
field of rock art research. Which is why we do not have any generally accepted
standards for the correctness of our documentation.
Tanums Hallristningsmuseum Underslos has many years of experience
with documentation work, and the museum is all the time developing new
methods for the various phases of the documentation and also continually
assessing the suitability of the methods for diferent degrees of weathering.
The documentation must be seen as a total registration of the surface, that
is figures, diferent types and degrees of weathering, plus fissures and areas
with lichen or moss.
The complexity of the actual conditions calls for a diferentiated method,
which can reproduce the original shape of the carvings as precisely as possible.
The rubbing technique (fig. 2) is still the primary method, as no other
method shows the surface of the rock including the carvings more precisely.
Hardly visible figures are identified and photographed by night with lamps at
an oblique angle.
The basis for research must be the documentation we provide in the
rubbings, perhaps supplemented by night photos. This method is the closest
you get to an objective reproduction.
The purpose of the painting (suspended quartz / Si02 which is one of the
elements of the granite) of the figures is to make them visible and contrasting
with the rock, so that the whole panel can be photographed for publication (fig.3).
But it should be realized that this method relies on interpretation: the person
who performs the painting has to interpret, and this method can not be
considered a one hundred per cent correct documentation - it has to be defined
as an illustration.
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Digital photography (fig. 4) makes it possible to emphasize and describe
specific conditions on the rock panel and thus produce diferent photos of the
same carving which supply diferent information.
Electronic filing and communication.
The documentation project produces an enormous material consisting of
thousands of sheets of paper (fig. 5), and this demands a cataloguing system
which makes it possible to quickly identify a particular carving or figure, or
the degree of weathering at the time of documentation.
Registration is part of the documentation and can be found in two systems
of registration:
• HALLRIST - a central database established in 1998 by Riksantik­varieambetet
(The Central Board of National Antiquities) with the purpose of
collecting all data on documentation and registration in Sweden.
• HELIOS - the database developed by Tanums Hallristningsmuseum
Underslos, which has been in existence for some years and collects data from
our own project: re-documentation in Tanum.
By using the newest electronic technology, rock art research has taken a
great step forward. With the newest technology it is possible to collect old and
new information, text as well as pictures, in a handy and clear form, and that
opens new perspectives.
HELIOS is a data base which is especially designed for filing documentation
of and research in rock art. Although the database has been designed for
information on rock art regardless of geographic area, the museum has only
used it for Tanum in Bohuslan, which is the geographical area on which we
focus.
Traditionally, research and documentation results are published in books
and periodicals. When information is published, it becomes static - new
documentation and research has to be published in new books and periodicals.
This creates a problem for those who use the information. They waste a lot of
time locating the relevant information, as there are innumerable sources. A
database minimizes this process and leaves you more time to produce results
instead.
An even more serious problem arises when documentation and research
results are not published in sources easily available to potential users. This
may be due to insufficient exchange of knowledge across borders and
continents, or caused by insuficient funding. Publishing books is expensive,
and rock art research is a minor discipline, for which it is hard to attract pub­lishers
and funding.
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The content of the database:
• all known information, basically drawn from the files of the Riksantik­varieambetet,
and all existing graphic material - mainly Laurits Baltzer's
pictures, which are about one hundred years old.
• new information and systematic graphic documentation of the re­documentation
of recent years.
• a newly started archaeological part with pictures and descriptions of
archaeological finds which are relevant for the understanding and dating of
the rock carvings.
The database focuses on the categorization of figures and on graphic repre­sentation
of entire rock art areas.
Archaeological finds
Another perspective which is not directly connected with the documentation
project, is a typological comparison of the figures on the rock with other
archaeological finds (figs. 6, 7, 8).
The rock carvings are not our only relics from the past, but have to be seen
in the context of our total knowledge of the past.
Research into the contents and age of the rock carvings is also dependent
on data provided by other archaeological material.
That aspect has of course existed all the time and has also been included in
the research.
But the handling of this material has been dificult and often confused.
Electronic technology makes it possible to combine text and pictures in a much
simpler way - for instance the pictures we know from bronze relics, and thus
contribute to a greater clarity and establish contexts which can contribute to a
better understanding of the rock carvings.
Several of the important areas of rock art, among these Tanum in Sweden,
are on UNESCO's World Heritage List, and from 1997 to 1999, Tanum is under
the auspices of an EU Interreg project, which supplies means for the
preservation and documentation of our prehistoric cultural heritage - and that
reflects an acknowledgement of the importance of the past for the people of
today.
Address of the author:
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Gerhard Milstreu
Tanums Hallristningsmuseum
Underslos
S-457 91 Tanumshede
E-mail: adorant@bigfoot.com
Internet: http://www.ssfpa.se
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References:
Flemming Kaul: Ships on Bronzes. PNM Studies in Archaeology & History
Vol. 3,1. Copenhagen 1998.
Gerhard Milstreu and Henning Prnhl: Documentation and Registration of
Rock Art in Tanum, Vol. 1 Aspeberget. Tanumshede 1996. Vol. 2 Fossum.
Tanumshede 1999.
Fig. I On this scene the left part of the rock surface is still intact. The weathering on
the right part, however, is so bad that one of the ships has become almost invisible.
Fig. 2 The whole panel is covered with paper sheets, size 70 x 100 cm and the carving
is documented by rubbing.
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Fig. 3
After the rubbing has
been completed, the fi­gures
are painted with
suspended chalk.
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Fig. 4
Making ready for pho­tography.
The carving is
traditionally placed, fa­cing
east towards the
valley which was a
fjord in the skerries in
prehistoric times. Most
of the panels are facing
the fields as an inte­grated
part of the pea­sant
culture - today as
well in the bronze age.
w All photos by Gerhard
􀀮􂸠 Milstreu
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Detalj I
Detalj 3
0
Detalj 4 H
Fig. 5
The graphic form is based on the rubbing. A I, etc. indicates the paper sheets from
the rubbing documentation, and this panel is about 80 square metres.
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w
w
-..)
Fig. 6
Sun-horse from
a rock carving in
Tanum.
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Fig. 7/8
A socalled archaeological part of the database is being constructed. These pictures
show archaeological findings which give us extra information about the types of
figures in the rock carvings. The sunhorses of the carvings (see fig. 6) have parallels
on the razor from Neder Hvolris in the county ofViborg in Denmark from period 4
(fig. 7), and to "the Sun-horse from Trundholm" from the county of Holbrek in Den­mark
(fig. 8 below), which is from period 2. After Flemming Kaul.
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