Visual narratives and the depiction of whaling in north European rock art: the case of the White Sea

Abstract

The rock art petroglyps of the White Sea represent possibly the earliest depictions of whaling in the world and allow us to understand the 6,000-years-old relationship between whales and human communities. This paper will argue that the complexity of this relationship is multifaceted and socially underpinned, and goes beyond simple killing of the whale. A number of strands in the interpretation of prehistoric images are explored: traditional indigenous knowledge; ethnographic and historical evidence; visual clues and archaeological interpretation of rock art. Hunting for whales required input from a number of individuals who did not deliver the killing blow, but without whom the whale could not be killed and fully appropriated. The whale itself can be seen as a visual localiser of community cohesion, the focus for community members and their practices (Janik 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

Keywords

• Rock art
• whaling
• White Sea
• hunt
• whale
• marine mammal