Rock paintings in Norway. Cultural and historical background

: There is such an organization “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”. In part cultural direction This organization has a program " Cultural heritage" On the list of almost a thousand objects located on our planet, one is located in the small town of Alta, in northern Norway. What did scientists from the polar latitudes find that was so cultural and valuable for all humanity?

Once upon a time (6 thousand years ago), the ancient people of the northern lands went about their business: they caught food for themselves, and sharpened weapons in order to catch this food for themselves. In any community there are people of culture who certainly need to record and pass on to the next generations their difficult life and fun leisure time. Some people make up legends, others play music on free topic, someone picks up a brush and sculpts victory banners.

Now there is a digital camera. I pressed the button and am ready to say hello to posterity. How can you convey greetings from the past to a person with the skin of a walrus killed and eaten around his waist? And a solution was found! On granite slabs as smooth as saucers of Chinese porcelain, ancient chronicler artists carved their messages to distant descendants in time using quartz.

Petroglyphs are the name given to stone writings made and applied to a base up to the modern era. Let's try to understand the creations of ancient stone carvers.

When looking at this drawing, I had strong associations with the work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry “ A little prince" In it, the author from the first lines showed everyone his drawing “The Boa Constrictor Swallowed an Elephant.” Ancient ancestor The Vikings and Sami read this work and in response depicted in stone “a cannibal deer that devoured its small relative.”

3. We also see that ancient animals could gather, like Chinese acrobats in the circus, into living pyramids

4. Queue at the watering hole

5. If you look closely at the following picture, you can see a kangaroo, a fish and a boy peeing

6. Ancient artist shows that they wove carpets from deer hair

7. Goose and man with an umbrella. Moreover, it is clearly visible that the person is a man.

8. In the next creation we see that in ancient times people played football. The moment of the free kick is captured in stone. One of the players in the wall did not cover his work and was hit in the groin with the ball. The picture conveys the pain and suffering of the football player.

9. For the convenience of visitors, wooden walkways are laid in the shade of the trees. It is not recommended to leave them, so as not to accidentally step on the great creations of the past.

10. Scarce northern nature. Low trees, stones, mosses, lichens. Fjord waters and snow-capped mountains in the distance

11. Let's return to the drawings. Lonely fox. By the way, the size of the drawings allows you to cover them with a pack of cigarettes.

13. I find it difficult to identify the object. It looks like a wooden rocking horse. Or a rocking bed with needles for yoga.

"Cave paintings in Alta"

Discipline

Listener:

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………3

2. First finds……………………………………………………………….3

3. Culture of that time……………………………………………………5

4. Images………………………………………………………………………………… 6

5. Scenes from Everyday life and ritual scenes……………………….7

6. Hunting and fishing scenes…………………………………………….. 8

7. Geometric symbols………………………………………………….8

8. Animals………………………………………………………………..9

9. Bears……………………………………………………………………………….9

10. UNESCO heritage………………………………………………………..10

11. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………10

12. References……………………………………………………...11

Introduction

Petroglyphs (from the Greek p\"etros - stone and glyph\"e - carving, cutting) are ancient images carved on the walls and ceilings of caves, in open

rock surfaces and individual stones (Great Soviet Encyclopedia).

The discovery of Paleolithic art, represented mainly by cave paintings in Western Europe, at one time appeared real

sensation. Then in mid-19th century centuries, did not know art older than ancient Egyptian or Celtic, so it was assumed that any previous forms that might still exist

open will inevitably be much more primitive. It was not easy to believe that in the depths of centuries - from ten to thirty thousand years ago - art existed in Europe,

admirable. Drawings, engravings, and various figurines indicate that primitive hunters were not as primitive as they were previously thought. These

contemporaries of mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses rose to an artistic level that remained unattainable for subsequent generations of people for many

millennia.

Reindeer husbandry or driven hunting? It’s interesting that in such petroglyphs natural

Were the potholes analogues of landscape failures, rocks, lowlands, i.e. weren't such drawings maps, plans of places?

The first drawings were discovered more than 120 years ago, but only at the beginning of our century were they understood as belonging to the Paleolithic era.

First finds

North of Norway. Coast of Altafjort. Here in 1972, archaeologists discovered an amazing rock gallery. 5000 drawings on the territory in

several square kilometers.

The earliest petroglyphs in the area date back to around 4200 BC. e., and the latest - approximately 500 BC. e., although some researchers

it is believed that cave paintings appeared here and

up to 500 n. e.

The first drawings were discovered in the area of ​​Jemmelüft/Jiebmaluokta (the name means “bay of seals” in Sami language), 4 kilometers from the center

city ​​of Alta. In this area, rock art has been found in seven different locations, located between 8.5. and 26.5. meters above sea level. There are obvious differences between the figures

differences both in style and content.

The petroglyphs are clearly younger than the cracks; almost all of them bypass rock faults.

The bulk of the petroglyphs are located around the town of Jemmeluft/Jiebmaluokta (out of about 5,000 known drawings, more than 3,000 are located here).

A wooden deck system with a total length of about 3 kilometers was built in Jemmelüft/Jiebmaluokta in the second half of the 1980s, and the Alta Museum was transferred from the center

to the area where the petroglyphs were located in 1991. Although there are other known petrograph clusters around Alta, Jemmelüft/Jiebmaluokta remains

the only public place.

Most of the rocks around Alta are overgrown with mosses and lichens. After the discovery of the first petrographs, they began to carefully remove these growths from the rocks and

stones to find new drawings hidden from human eyes. When new petroglyphs are discovered, they are photographed and entered into a database. Many rock paintings

located next to the trails are painted red-brown, otherwise they will be difficult to notice. This color was chosen because it is similar to the red ocher used in

some rocks of Alta and other places of Fennoscandia. Possibly...

The place for which tourists from all over the world flock to the north of Norway is the city of Alta, which is located on the shores of Alta Fiora Bay in the Norwegian Sea. In addition to the fact that Alta is considered the city of the northern lights and various winter activities, the city boasts its main attraction - the Museum of Archeology under open air.

Sami people - indigenous people this part of the country, whose ancestors left this historical evidence to their contemporaries - rock paintings. For those wishing to get acquainted with the heritage of our ancestors, an amusing trip in distant times and contact with the secrets of prehistoric times. There is still disagreement among archaeologists about the true age of the petroglyphs, but some researchers argue that the appearance of the earliest cave paintings can date back to before 500 AD.

Petroglyphs were first discovered in the seventies of the 19th century, which became the main sensation of that time. A petroglyph gallery of five thousand drawings was discovered four kilometers from the city center, and then over the next decade more and more galleries opened throughout Alta. Today in different places In the vicinity of Alta, several dozen places with petroglyphs were discovered.

The museum is located next to the largest mountain range in northern Europe and prehistoric artists, as they say, had plenty of room to spread out. Rock paintings can tell a lot. Our prehistoric ancestors did not skimp on expressing their thoughts in graphics. They left us an enormous amount of information. The scenes of the drawings tell about the daily life of people, about their way of life, traditions and culture.

Since at the time of the creation of rock paintings the main source of food was fish and meat of sea animals, they are presented in the drawings in a huge number. In addition to drawings of animals, you can consider scenes with images of people themselves. Scenes with people represent hunting, fishing, all kinds of rituals and dances. Along with any actions, the drawings contain household items - boats, tools, various geometric figures and, surprisingly, numbers.

There are many interpretations of the Alta rock paintings, but their meaning is not known for certain. Modern people There are only speculations about the scenes depicted on the rocks, but we can say with confidence that all the drawings left to us by our prehistoric ancestors are nothing more than the events that happened to them in everyday life and this is their life itself.

Petroglyphs of Val Camonica

Rock painting in Val Camonica - a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 1979) in Italy in the Val Camonica valley in the southern Alpine regions of the province of Lombardy between the provinces of Brescia and Bergamo.

Here it is largest meeting There are only about 300 thousand petroglyphs in Europe. Although the name of the valley comes from the Camun tribe, who lived here shortly before the arrival of the Romans, only a small part of the petroglyphs are associated with them: chronologically they belong to the period from Upper Paleolithic(6000 BC) to the 19th century AD. e.

The discovery of petroglyphs was first published in the late 1950s. archaeologist Emmanuel Anati, who carried out excavations in Valcamonica.

Rock paintings in Alta

Alta rock paintings or Alta petroglyphs are part of archaeological museum in the town of Alta in Finnmark county in northern Norway. Since the discovery of the first petrographs in 1972, more than 5,000 rock paintings have been found at several sites around Alta. In the town of Jiepmaluokta, which is about 4 kilometers from Alta, there are about 3,000 different drawings. Now this place has been turned into an open-air museum. On December 3, 1985, the petroglyphs at Alta were listed world heritage UNESCO. It is Norway's only prehistoric monument listed as a World Heritage Site.

In general, several dozen monuments with Stone Age petroglyphs are known in Norway, including in Möllerstufossen, Tennäs and a number of others.

The earliest petroglyphs in the Alta area date back to around 4200 BC. BC, and the latest ones usually date back to around 500 BC. e., although some researchers believe that cave paintings appeared here until 500 AD. e. The wide variety of images speaks of a hunter-gatherer culture that managed reindeer herds, built boats and fisheries, and also practiced shamanic rituals. Not much is known about the culture that produced these drawings, although it is assumed that the people who made these drawings were descendants of the Komsa culture. Some researchers are also convinced that the Sami are the descendants of these ancient stone carvers.

Discovery and restoration. On the left is the museum building. Petroglyphs are located along the path from the museum to the beach. The first drawings were discovered in the fall of 1972 in the area of ​​Jiepmaluokta (in Sami the name means “bay of seals”), about 4 kilometers from the city center of Alta. During the 1970s, many other petroglyphs were discovered throughout the area around Alta. The bulk of petroglyphs are located around Jiepmaluokta (out of about 5,000 known drawings, more than 3,000 are located here). A timber deck system totaling approximately 3 kilometers was built in Jiepmaluokta in the second half of the 1980s, and the Alta Museum was moved from the city center to the petroglyph area in 1991. Although there are other known petrograph clusters around Alta, Jiepmaluokta remains the only publicly accessible site.

Most of the rocks around Alta are overgrown with mosses and lichens. After the discovery of the first petrographs, they began to carefully remove these growths from rocks and stones in order to find new drawings hidden from human eyes. When new petroglyphs are discovered, they are photographed and entered into a database. In most cases, no special precautions are taken to keep the rock art visible (other than prohibiting construction work on the site). Special care for petrographs is not necessary since they generally cut quite deeply into the surface. Only in areas accessible to tourists, petroglyphs are filled with special red ocher, which makes them more visible.

 University Abstract on the topic: “Rock paintings in Alta” Discipline Listener: Contents 1. Introduction......................... ...........................................3 2. First discoveries................................................... ......................3 3. Culture of that time.................................... .....................................5 4. Images........ ........................................................ .............. 6 5. Scenes from everyday life and scenes of rituals.................................. ..7 6. Hunting and fishing scenes.................................................. ........................... 8 7. Geometric symbols.................................. .....................8 8. Animals.................. ........................................................ ............9 9. Bears................................... ...........................................9 10. UNESCO heritage ........................................................ ...............10 11. Conclusion................................. ........................................10 12. References.... ........................................................ .........11 Introduction Petroglyphs (from Greek. pétros - stone and glyphé - carving, cutting) - ancient images carved on the walls and ceilings of caves, on open rock surfaces and individual stones (Great Soviet Encyclopedia). The discovery of Paleolithic art, represented mainly by cave paintings in Western Europe, was a real sensation in its time. Back then, in the mid-19th century, no art older than ancient Egyptian or Celtic was known, so it was assumed that any previous forms that might yet be discovered would inevitably be much more primitive. It was not easy to believe that in the depths of centuries - from ten to thirty thousand years ago - art worthy of admiration existed in Europe. Drawings, engravings, and various figurines indicate that primitive hunters were not as primitive as they were previously thought. These contemporaries of mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses rose to an artistic level that remained unattainable by subsequent generations of people for many millennia. Reindeer husbandry or driven hunting? I wonder if natural potholes in such petroglyphs were analogues of landscape dips, rocks, lowlands, i.e. weren't such drawings maps, plans of places? The first drawings were discovered more than 120 years ago, but only at the beginning of our century were they understood as belonging to the Paleolithic era. First finds in the North of Norway. Coast of Altafjort. Here in 1972, archaeologists discovered an amazing rock gallery. 5000 drawings on an area of ​​several square kilometers. The earliest petroglyphs in the area date back to around 4200 BC. e., and the latest - approximately 500 BC. e., although some researchers believe that rock paintings appeared here before 500 AD. e. The first paintings were discovered in the area of ​​Jemmelüft/Jiebmaluokta (the name means “bay of seals” in Sami), 4 kilometers from the center of Alta. In this area, rock paintings were found in seven different places, located between 8.5 and 26.5 meters above sea level There are obvious differences between the figures, both in style and in content. The petroglyphs are clearly younger than the cracks, almost all of them bypass the rock faults. of wooden decks totaling about 3 kilometers was built in Jemmelüft/Jiebmaluokta in the second half of the 1980s, and the Alta Museum was moved from the city center to the petroglyph area in 1991. Although there are other known petrograph clusters around Alta, Jemmelüft/Jibmaluokta remains the only publicly accessible area. Most of the rocks around Alt are overgrown with mosses and lichens. After the discovery of the first petrographs, they began to carefully remove these growths from rocks and stones in order to find new drawings hidden from human eyes. When new petroglyphs are discovered, they are photographed and entered into a database. Many of the rock paintings located near the trails are painted red-brown, otherwise they will be difficult to notice. This color was chosen because it is similar to the red ocher found in some of the Alta and other Fennoscandia rocks. It is possible that this color was originally used in rock paintings. But what kind of culture existed in these places in those distant times? After all, nothing is known about her. Perhaps these are the ancestors of the Sami? The wide variety of images speaks of a hunter-gatherer culture that managed reindeer herds, built boats and fisheries, and also practiced shamanic rituals. Culture of that time Judging by the gesture of the figure with the club, something hostile is depicted:) Perhaps this object is covered with skins? At the time the drawings were created, the northern part of Norway was inhabited by hunter-gatherers who were considered descendants of the Komsa culture: archaeological culture hunter-gatherer era Late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic. They settled along the Norwegian coast, occupying territories that were vacated by retreating glaciers at the end of ice age, approximately 8000 BC e.. From the rock paintings of Alta, which were created over almost 5000 years, one can trace many cultural changes, including invention metal tools, as well as advances in areas such as shipbuilding and improved fishing techniques. Rock paintings, especially early period, show great similarity with petrographs from the northwestern part of Russia. Thus, we can conclude about possible contact between parallel developing cultures in the vast areas of the far north of Europe. The relationship between the culture that created the Alta rock art and the culture of the Koms and Sami is not entirely clear. The main trade of the tribes was seals, however, not a single image of a seal was found in the vicinity of Alta. However, since both cultures coexisted in virtually the same geographic area for nearly two thousand years, some form of contact between the cultures is highly likely. It is easier to establish a connection with the Sami culture, since many traditional decorative elements on Sami tools and musical instruments bear a striking resemblance to some of the rock paintings from Alta. The petroglyphs at Alta were created using a quartzite chisel and a harder rock hammer. Possible examples of the chisel have been discovered throughout the area around Alta, and are on display at the Alta Museum. Apparently, the stone chisel was used here even after the invention of metal tools. The rise in ground level in the post-Galian period suggests that they were made close to shore level. As the earth grew, moss and plants grew on old rocks, and new rock paintings were made on empty rock surfaces cleared by the sea. Thus, older rock art tends to be located at higher altitudes. Level Dating coastline shows that the cave paintings were made approximately 6200 - 2500 years ago. Images Mountain art in Alta was created by hunters and fishermen. The images show some of their beliefs and rituals. Perhaps they are also part of myths or stories. The drawings depict animals that surrounded hunters in everyday life: deer, elk, bears, wolves, etc. But there are also archaeological finds, such as food remains, that show that the drawings depict figures of animals and fish that were not often encountered by hunters. For example, fish bones (cod, pollock, haddock) dominate the remains, but mountain figurines depict mainly halibut. In addition to animals, the designs depict human figures, boats, tools, various geometric shapes and numbers. You can also find big stages, in which people and animals participate in various activities such as hunting, fishing, dancing and rituals. Many petroglyphs contain symbols and scenes that cannot be accurately identified - symbolic allusions to the everyday life of the Sami ancestors and some magical acts? Drawings can tell a lot about cultural and national phenomena and about prehistoric society and its beliefs. There are many alternative interpretations of the drawings. Some drawings may depict various gods and spirits with whom people communicated through special rituals and myths. Cave paintings could have been made by people who had a special status, such as shamans or the head of a family. Perhaps they were made on special occasions. The most common image types are described below. Scenes from everyday life and scenes of rituals It is especially difficult to judge the meaning of rock paintings with images of people; Scenes showing dancing, cooking, or sexual intercourse may also depict related rituals. Moreover, even if these paintings actually depict scenes from everyday life, it remains unclear why these particular scenes were carved into stone. Depictions of sexual activity may be associated with fertility rites; scenes that show food preparation may have been intended to ensure an abundance of food. Some scenes show people with special social status, as evidenced by the peculiar headdresses, as well as the more visible location of the wearers of these headdresses among their fellows. Perhaps these are priests, shamans or tribal rulers. If the assumption is correct, and these are really the rulers of the tribe, then these petroglyphs can be interpreted as a record historical events associated with the tribe, such as the rise to power of a ruler, his wedding, or the establishment of relationships with other tribes. Hunting and Fishing Scenes The vast majority of human scenes show hunters pursuing their prey. There are also scenes associated with rites of preparation for hunting. An interesting petroglyph with a displaced part of the picture, judging by the picture it is fishing, part of the “fishing line” has shifted a little along with the cracked rock... Modern researchers believe that images of various hunting and fishing scenes represent the symbols of individual tribes, and the interaction between them is existing or desired inter-tribal relationships. Representations of a spear or bow and arrow can be found from a very early period, indicating that the use of such tools is known from early times. Additionally, fishermen are often depicted using fishing rods, suggesting that the method of creation fishing hooks and the use of bait was known to these stone carvers. Of particular interest are the drawings of boats: while small fishing boats appear from the earliest petrographs, increasingly larger vessels appear later, some carrying up to 30 people. They are decorated with animal motifs on the bow and stern, reminiscent of Viking longships. Geometric Symbols The most mysterious petroglyphs are a set of geometric symbols that were found among the oldest rock art in the area. Some of these objects have a round shape and are surrounded by other objects around the perimeter; there are also complex structures consisting of vertical and horizontal lines. Although some of these objects may represent simple tools or similar objects (for example, clusters of vertical and horizontal lines are interpreted as a fishing net), most of these symbols remain unexplained. Animals A wide range of animals can be found in rock paintings. Deer are usually depicted, often united in large herds that are hunted. Images of deer behind fences seem to indicate that some control over these animals has existed since ancient times. In addition to deer, you can often find images of moose, various types birds and fish. Pregnant animals were often depicted with the fetus visible inside its mother. Outline It seems strange that according to archaeological finds, from 30 to 95% of the diet prehistoric people were seafood, but fishing scenes are found in only 1% of known petrographs. Possible explanations for this fact are that fishing in coastal waters was much less complex and dangerous than hunting large animals. Animals played a large role in cults and had more religious significance, which is why they were depicted much more often. Bears Bear apparently played special role in the culture of prehistoric people: it figures prominently in many cave paintings and is often depicted not only as a hunted animal, but also as a symbol of worship (which seems very likely, since bear cult is known in many ancient cultures of the northwest Russia, as well as in Sami culture). While the paths of movement of other animals and people are horizontal, only the images of bears are vertical, as if crossing the paths of other animals. This has led some researchers to speculate that bears may have been more or less associated with a cult about the afterlife (or death in general), since the vertical direction of the bear designs seems to indicate the ability of these animals to pass between different layers of the world . Images of bears disappear by 1700 BC. e., which may indicate changes in religious beliefs that time. UNESCO Heritage The Alta rock paintings were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1985. This list contains monuments to which UNESCO has designated national and international significance. The Alta rock art is the only prehistoric site of the four Norwegian sites included on this list. Conclusion Rock art played important role in history and culture ancient civilization. Man's imagination is embodied in new form being - artistic. Consolidating in visible images your life experience and attitude, people deepened and expanded their understanding of reality, enriched their spiritual world. Having learned to create images (sculptural, graphic, painting), people acquired some power over time. Art reflected man’s first ideas about the world around him; thanks to it, knowledge and skills were preserved and passed on, and people communicated with each other. The appeal of people to a new type of activity for them - art - is one of greatest events in the history of mankind. References 1. Great Soviet Encyclopedia 2. Magazine "North", February 1999 3. Scandinavia, Around the World, A.D. Rapoport, 2006 4. Norway. Illustrated guide, AST, S. Evensberget, 2007 1