Знаки и образы в искусстве каменного века. Международная конференция. Тезисы докладов [Электронный ресурс], 2019
This paper takes a starting point in the periodic division of the approximately 6000 petroglyphs ... more This paper takes a starting point in the periodic division of the approximately 6000 petroglyphs made during the last 5000 years BC in a North Norwegian fjord area, the ethnography of changing the hunter-fishing- pastoral Sami population in Fennoscandia and the documentation of their traditional system of belief as documented during the 16th 18th hundreds. In addition, the study draws upon the ethnography of Siberian indigenous populations and their understanding and interaction with other than human life in the environment. The makers of the petroglyphs were hunter - fisher - gatherers. This paper focuses on the communication between humans and non-humans such as spirits, reindeer, European elk (Alces alces), bears, birds, sea mammals, halibut and boats depicted in the rock art, and the environments of which they were a part. The analysis shows distinct diachronic morphological and stylistic differences between figures as well as variation in frequencies, compositions and classes. ...
Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi obla... more Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi oblast, the Republic of Uzbekistan
Project: Management of Nokalakevi Archaeological-Architectural Complex, Senaki District, the Repu... more Project: Management of Nokalakevi Archaeological-Architectural Complex, Senaki District, the Republic of Georgia
Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi obla... more Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi oblast, the Republic of Uzbekistan
Труды Сибирской Ассоциации исследователей первобытного искусства., 2019
WHY SO FEW BIRDS This paper consideres the petroglyphs of birds in the inner part of the Alta fjo... more WHY SO FEW BIRDS This paper consideres the petroglyphs of birds in the inner part of the Alta fjord in northern Norway. During the time 5000 to BC/AD, when the petroglyphs were made, the focus was on water birds, although extremely few in relation to the total number of figures. No bird figures appear to have been made later than 2700 BC. The lack of birds among the late rock art in Alta does not mean that they no longer had a place within human animal relationships, beliefs and rituals, myths, narratives and subsistence, but only that they no longer were depicted in rock art. Ethno-historic information indicates that beliefs associated with birds were important in among Finno-Ugric myths and folklore in late historic times, with roots in prehistory. There might be a link between prehistoric images and ethno-historic information, but to draw a direct connection through four thousand years between prehistoric and historic populations in the region of Alta need more information than I...
An examination of meanings associated with bears among early hunter-gatherer-fisher populations i... more An examination of meanings associated with bears among early hunter-gatherer-fisher populations in northern Fennoscandia, based on beliefs and ritual practices in the ethnohistoric record, indicates that they were an animal attributed multiple meanings in prehistoric as well as historic times. They were clan ancestors, spirit masters and symbols of power and reincarnation such as rebirth and the change of seasons. The evidence indicates a pattern of local variation and identities rather than a uniform regional pattern, and some large-scale differences from the coastal area of Norway in the west to Karelia in the east.
The Stone Age (dated from early post-glacial to A.D. 300) of the North Norwegian interior has bee... more The Stone Age (dated from early post-glacial to A.D. 300) of the North Norwegian interior has been virtually unknown until the first archaeological surveys four years ago. A large number of sites have been discovered. This paper discusses possible settlement patterns as suggested by these finds in relation to site location, topography, fauna and climate. It is suggested that there was a permanent settled population along the Alta River in interior Finnmark which primarily utilized the economic resources of the interior as early as 5000 B.P. In addition, the economic resources of the interior were seasonally utilized by a coastal population beginning perhaps as early as 7000 B.P.
Enclosures and fences for hunting reindeer are depicted in Late Mesolithic rock art in Alta, nort... more Enclosures and fences for hunting reindeer are depicted in Late Mesolithic rock art in Alta, northernmost Norway. This technique of hunting is known from the area in the ethnohistoric records, although the extent to which these records represent prehistoric practises and societies is uncertain. Common for both is the topography, through which people and reindeer moved, while climatic differences meant that vegetation zones were slightly displaced and the shore area would have been smaller as the sea level was higher than today due to the Holocene shore-displacement. Other common features are the behaviour, seasonal movements and the physical features of the reindeer. The depictions and their integration with the rock surface is a micro landscape that refl ects the hunt and environment as well as other meanings in narratives, cosmology and rituals. The attributes of the reindeer and the presence of bears and other animals indicate that the compositions are as much associated with rit...
ABSTRACT This volume contains cutting edge contributions that consider new approaches to three ar... more ABSTRACT This volume contains cutting edge contributions that consider new approaches to three areas: the documentation of rock art; its interpretation using indigenous knowledge; and the presentation of rock art. Working with Rock Art is the first edited volume to consider each of these areas in a theoretical rather than a technical fashion, and it therefore makes a significant contribution to the discipline. The volume aims to promote the sharing of new experiences between leading researchers in the field. While the geographic focus is truly global, there is a dominant north-south axis with strong representation from researchers in southern Africa and northern Europe, two leading centres for new approaches in rock art research. Working with Rock Art opens up a long overdue dialogue about shared experiences between these two centres, and a number of the chapters are the first published results of new collaborative research. Since this volume covers the recording, interpretation and presentation of rock art, it will attract a wide audience of researchers, heritage managers and students, as well as anyone interested in the field of rock art studies.
Знаки и образы в искусстве каменного века. Международная конференция. Тезисы докладов [Электронный ресурс], 2019
This paper takes a starting point in the periodic division of the approximately 6000 petroglyphs ... more This paper takes a starting point in the periodic division of the approximately 6000 petroglyphs made during the last 5000 years BC in a North Norwegian fjord area, the ethnography of changing the hunter-fishing- pastoral Sami population in Fennoscandia and the documentation of their traditional system of belief as documented during the 16th 18th hundreds. In addition, the study draws upon the ethnography of Siberian indigenous populations and their understanding and interaction with other than human life in the environment. The makers of the petroglyphs were hunter - fisher - gatherers. This paper focuses on the communication between humans and non-humans such as spirits, reindeer, European elk (Alces alces), bears, birds, sea mammals, halibut and boats depicted in the rock art, and the environments of which they were a part. The analysis shows distinct diachronic morphological and stylistic differences between figures as well as variation in frequencies, compositions and classes. ...
Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi obla... more Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi oblast, the Republic of Uzbekistan
Project: Management of Nokalakevi Archaeological-Architectural Complex, Senaki District, the Repu... more Project: Management of Nokalakevi Archaeological-Architectural Complex, Senaki District, the Republic of Georgia
Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi obla... more Project: Conservation and Management of Sarmishsai Cultural and Natural Heritage Site, Navoi oblast, the Republic of Uzbekistan
Труды Сибирской Ассоциации исследователей первобытного искусства., 2019
WHY SO FEW BIRDS This paper consideres the petroglyphs of birds in the inner part of the Alta fjo... more WHY SO FEW BIRDS This paper consideres the petroglyphs of birds in the inner part of the Alta fjord in northern Norway. During the time 5000 to BC/AD, when the petroglyphs were made, the focus was on water birds, although extremely few in relation to the total number of figures. No bird figures appear to have been made later than 2700 BC. The lack of birds among the late rock art in Alta does not mean that they no longer had a place within human animal relationships, beliefs and rituals, myths, narratives and subsistence, but only that they no longer were depicted in rock art. Ethno-historic information indicates that beliefs associated with birds were important in among Finno-Ugric myths and folklore in late historic times, with roots in prehistory. There might be a link between prehistoric images and ethno-historic information, but to draw a direct connection through four thousand years between prehistoric and historic populations in the region of Alta need more information than I...
An examination of meanings associated with bears among early hunter-gatherer-fisher populations i... more An examination of meanings associated with bears among early hunter-gatherer-fisher populations in northern Fennoscandia, based on beliefs and ritual practices in the ethnohistoric record, indicates that they were an animal attributed multiple meanings in prehistoric as well as historic times. They were clan ancestors, spirit masters and symbols of power and reincarnation such as rebirth and the change of seasons. The evidence indicates a pattern of local variation and identities rather than a uniform regional pattern, and some large-scale differences from the coastal area of Norway in the west to Karelia in the east.
The Stone Age (dated from early post-glacial to A.D. 300) of the North Norwegian interior has bee... more The Stone Age (dated from early post-glacial to A.D. 300) of the North Norwegian interior has been virtually unknown until the first archaeological surveys four years ago. A large number of sites have been discovered. This paper discusses possible settlement patterns as suggested by these finds in relation to site location, topography, fauna and climate. It is suggested that there was a permanent settled population along the Alta River in interior Finnmark which primarily utilized the economic resources of the interior as early as 5000 B.P. In addition, the economic resources of the interior were seasonally utilized by a coastal population beginning perhaps as early as 7000 B.P.
Enclosures and fences for hunting reindeer are depicted in Late Mesolithic rock art in Alta, nort... more Enclosures and fences for hunting reindeer are depicted in Late Mesolithic rock art in Alta, northernmost Norway. This technique of hunting is known from the area in the ethnohistoric records, although the extent to which these records represent prehistoric practises and societies is uncertain. Common for both is the topography, through which people and reindeer moved, while climatic differences meant that vegetation zones were slightly displaced and the shore area would have been smaller as the sea level was higher than today due to the Holocene shore-displacement. Other common features are the behaviour, seasonal movements and the physical features of the reindeer. The depictions and their integration with the rock surface is a micro landscape that refl ects the hunt and environment as well as other meanings in narratives, cosmology and rituals. The attributes of the reindeer and the presence of bears and other animals indicate that the compositions are as much associated with rit...
ABSTRACT This volume contains cutting edge contributions that consider new approaches to three ar... more ABSTRACT This volume contains cutting edge contributions that consider new approaches to three areas: the documentation of rock art; its interpretation using indigenous knowledge; and the presentation of rock art. Working with Rock Art is the first edited volume to consider each of these areas in a theoretical rather than a technical fashion, and it therefore makes a significant contribution to the discipline. The volume aims to promote the sharing of new experiences between leading researchers in the field. While the geographic focus is truly global, there is a dominant north-south axis with strong representation from researchers in southern Africa and northern Europe, two leading centres for new approaches in rock art research. Working with Rock Art opens up a long overdue dialogue about shared experiences between these two centres, and a number of the chapters are the first published results of new collaborative research. Since this volume covers the recording, interpretation and presentation of rock art, it will attract a wide audience of researchers, heritage managers and students, as well as anyone interested in the field of rock art studies.
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Papers by Knut Helskog