Nord, Jenny
- Lund University
Abstract
Palaeoecological analysis of peat deposits from a small bog at Lingården, southern Sweden, have been used to examine the nature and timing of vegetation changes and anthropogenic activity associated with a nearby rock carving located close to the edge of the wetland. This study is the first of its type to investigate the environmental context of rock carvings in southern Sweden. Debate has tended to focus on chronology and iconography, with little consideration of the environmental relationships of rock carvings and how vegetation may help construct a site within its surrounding landscape. The pollen evidence from Lingården demonstrates that the rock carving was located in an isolated semi-wooded setting during the late Bronze Age. This is in stark contrast to several other pollen studies from the Bjäre Peninsula that record widespread woodland clearance and agricultural activity from the late Neolithic eBronze Age transition. The results of this study support hypotheses that suggest complex rock carvings, such as Lingården, were separated from settled areas. This sense of separation and isolation is reinforced by the vegetation surrounding the rock carving. This paper also discusses the relationship between charcoal in the pollen sequence and evidence that the decorated outcrop had been burnt
Keywords
Palaeoecology; human impact; bronze age; rock carving; Sweden; fire
Published in
Journal of Archaeological Science
2011, volume: 38, number: 3, pages: 746-752
Publisher: Elsevier
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Economics and Business
Social Sciences
Landscape Architecture
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.11.009
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/32254