Narrative Aspects of Images of Spear Use in Scandinavian Rock Carvings
Skoglund, Peter ; Ranta, Michael LU ; Persson, Tomas LU
and Cabak Rédei, Anna
LU
(2021)
In European Journal of Archaeology
- Abstract
- Researchers have long discussed whether Scandinavian rock art reflects narratives. Their interpretations have frequently been based on inspections of rock art panels combined with knowledge from ethnographic and historical sources. Here, the authors adopt a more focused narratological approach that takes the concept of (visual) narrativity into consideration and draws on studies by literary analysts, cognitive psychologists, and semioticians. Images of spear use in the provinces of Bohuslän and Östergötland in Sweden, given their diversity and indexical qualities, are well-suited to such a study. They reveal different kinds of indexical relationships, i.e. how the spears direct attention to possible targets, arguably corresponding to... (More)
- Researchers have long discussed whether Scandinavian rock art reflects narratives. Their interpretations have frequently been based on inspections of rock art panels combined with knowledge from ethnographic and historical sources. Here, the authors adopt a more focused narratological approach that takes the concept of (visual) narrativity into consideration and draws on studies by literary analysts, cognitive psychologists, and semioticians. Images of spear use in the provinces of Bohuslän and Östergötland in Sweden, given their diversity and indexical qualities, are well-suited to such a study. They reveal different kinds of indexical relationships, i.e. how the spears direct attention to possible targets, arguably corresponding to action scripts well-known to Bronze Age communities. Many spear images may be regarded as mini-narratives and mnemonic devices intended to represent schematized action sequences. The authors suggest that concepts such as iconicity, indexical relationships, scripts, and mini-narratives could be fruitfully employed in research on Scandinavian rock art and beyond. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4ceeff87-cce5-4b0b-8543-762ddcb41ab3
- author
- Skoglund, Peter
; Ranta, Michael
LU
; Persson, Tomas
LU
and Cabak Rédei, Anna
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021-12-15
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- narratology, indexical signs, pictorial narrativity, rock art, petroglyphs, Scandinavia, action script, mini-narrative, spear use
- in
- European Journal of Archaeology
- pages
- 20 pages
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85121400286
- ISSN
- 1461-9571
- DOI
- 10.1017/eaa.2021.52
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4ceeff87-cce5-4b0b-8543-762ddcb41ab3
- date added to LUP
- 2021-09-24 12:19:11
- date last changed
- 2023-11-23 08:20:30
@article{4ceeff87-cce5-4b0b-8543-762ddcb41ab3,
abstract = {{Researchers have long discussed whether Scandinavian rock art reflects narratives. Their interpretations have frequently been based on inspections of rock art panels combined with knowledge from ethnographic and historical sources. Here, the authors adopt a more focused narratological approach that takes the concept of (visual) narrativity into consideration and draws on studies by literary analysts, cognitive psychologists, and semioticians. Images of spear use in the provinces of Bohuslän and Östergötland in Sweden, given their diversity and indexical qualities, are well-suited to such a study. They reveal different kinds of indexical relationships, i.e. how the spears direct attention to possible targets, arguably corresponding to action scripts well-known to Bronze Age communities. Many spear images may be regarded as mini-narratives and mnemonic devices intended to represent schematized action sequences. The authors suggest that concepts such as iconicity, indexical relationships, scripts, and mini-narratives could be fruitfully employed in research on Scandinavian rock art and beyond.}},
author = {{Skoglund, Peter and Ranta, Michael and Persson, Tomas and Cabak Rédei, Anna}},
issn = {{1461-9571}},
keywords = {{narratology; indexical signs; pictorial narrativity; rock art; petroglyphs; Scandinavia; action script; mini-narrative; spear use}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{12}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{European Journal of Archaeology}},
title = {{Narrative Aspects of Images of Spear Use in Scandinavian Rock Carvings}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2021.52}},
doi = {{10.1017/eaa.2021.52}},
year = {{2021}},
}