Animals on display: animal motifs, human-animal relations and social semiotics in the Bronze Age rock carvings from Enköping and Norrköping, Sweden

Abstract

Animals make up one of the most common motif groups in south Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art, with depictions of pigs and horses, as well as wild animals like red deer and wild boar, occurring in almost all rock art areas. Despite their ubiquity, their treatment in previous research has been inadequate. In this article, the display of animals in the rock art tradition is mapped out and discussed from a perspective based in human-animal relations and social semiotics. The animal figures are analyzed in terms of species, sex, human practice and regional articulations, as well as in relation to the wider archaeological record. The results reveal that animal motifs probably had a dual role during the Bronze Age, showing both the biological reality and the social and symbolic values that were connected to animals. In addition, the animals depicted in rock art also worked as carriers of semiotic resources, which manifested human social and societal ideas and ideals.

Keywords

• petroglyphs
• social spheres
• communication
• visual studies
• content analysis
• semiotic resource