MUSIC IN ROCK ART – HORNS:

 There are a number of ways that rock art and music can go together or interact. I have written a number of previous columns on this which can be references through the cloud index at the very bottom of the blog. Music might accompany rites or ceremonies being enacted at rock art sites. Alternatively, the making of music can be the subject of the rock art itself. This column is going to be about representations of the playing of a type of aerophone – the horn. According to Wikipedia “an aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound by causing a body of air to vibrate.” This includes variations of flutes, whistles and horns.

Field drawing of horn players, Guruve, Zimbabwe. Image from Kumbani and Diaz-Andreu.

A recent report on the rock art of Zimbabwe (Kumbani and Diaz-Andreu 2024) looks at the subject of musicians in rock art. They have designated a panel at Guruve as three men playing what they identify as trumpets. They point to three types of aerophones: trumpets, flutes and bullroarers. “These were probably made of bamboo.” They report that more than ten sites have been recorded displaying trumpet players. The trumpets are distinguished from flutes “primarily based on size or length of the pipes. Trumpets are typically longer than flutes. Flutes generally do not extend beyond thye player’s abdomen. In contrast, images of potential trumpets in rock art show that these instruments often extend past the abdomen and reach close to the knees.” (Kumbani and Diaz-Andreu 2024:15-16) These rock art images are attributed to the San people.

Scandinavian Lurs. Internet image, public domain.

Ancient Scandinavian war bands had a distinctive type of trumpet known as a Lur. Wikipedia describes a Lur as “a long natural horn without finger holes that is play with a brass-type embouchure. Lurs can be straight or curved in various shapes. The purpose of the curve was to make long instruments easier to carry (e.g. for marching, like the modern sousaphone) and to avoid directing the noise at nearby people.” (Wikipedia) There are some examples of Scandinavian rock art that show Lurs being played.

Panel from Kivik burial cairn, and isolated figure of Lur player. Image from The Kivik King's Grave.

One great example can be found in the Kivik burial cairn. “Few burial monuments in Scandinavia have been as well studied as Bredarör on Kivik, a  Bronze Age cairn, located half a mile north of Simrishamn on the southeastern coast of Skåne. Dated to roughly 1600 BC, and perhaps earlier, the site measures 75 meters in diameter. It is the largest mound of its type in Sweden. Systematically plundered for building materials in centuries past, a central stone chamber was uncovered in 1748, containing a central stone-cist, measuring 3.8 meters long by 1 meter wide, formed of upright stone slabs, the size of a human grave.” (The Kivik King’s Grave) On one of the stone slabs a pair of Lur players can clearly be seen, perhaps indicating it had a role in a funeral ceremony. This monument has undergone considerable excavation and reconstruction/restoration since its discovery in 1748. Such efforts, from that long ago, did not measure up to modern standards of archeology so we cannot be sure that what we see today is accurate to its original condition. I am assuming, however, that the petroglyphs of the Lur players are fairly accurate although, as we can see, it has been treated to the Scandinavian practice of paint in petroglyphs.

Lur players from Tanum Petroglyph Site, Bohuslan, Sweden. Internet image, public domain.

A major rock art site, the Tanum Petroglyphs, also includes an illustration of Lur players. “The Rock Carvings in Tanum (Swedish: Hallristningsomradet Tanum) are a collection of petroglyphs near Tanumshede, Bohuslan, Sweden, which were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1944 because of their concentration. In total, there are thousands of images called the Tanum Petroglyphs on about 600 panels within the World Heritage Area. These are concentrated in distinct areas along a 25 km stretch, and cover an area of about 51 hectares (126 acres or 0.5 km square). While the region was on the coastline when the drawings were made, it is now at an elevation of 25 m.” (Wikipedia)

Moqhith Wilderness, Utah. Photograph by Michael Lau.

Flute player, Mesa Prieta, New Mexico. Photograph by Katelyn Bird.

In the prehistoric New World trumpet-like aerophones were often conch shells pierced at one end and often with a mouthpiece of resin built up. Many of these have been found in the ruins of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, where they may have been used for signaling or for ceremonial purposes. That said, I know of no imagery that might illustrate these. If any reader has examples of Southwestern American rock art of conch players I will be grateful to see such examples. I am struck, however, by the resemblance of the Zimbabwe musicians above to flute-player representations from the Southwest.

NOTE: Some images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

 

REFERENCES:

The Kivik King’s Grave, https://www.germanicmythology.com/MISCELLANEOUS/KivikGrave.html. Accessed online 20 October 2025.

Kumbani, Joshua and Margarita Diaz-Andreu, 2024, The art of music. The representation of musical instruments in the rock art of Zimbabwe, October 2024, Azania Archaeological Research in Africa (online in ResearchGate). Accessed online 18 October 2025.

EXPERIMENTAL ARCHEOLOGY INSPIRED BY ROCK ART - BRONZE AGE SCANDINAVIAN BOATS:

Highlighted petroglyph, Bronze Age Scandinavian boat. Photograph bradshawfoundation.com.

For years I have been intrigued by the interesting designs of Bronze and Iron Age boats portrayed in rock art. The design looked to me as if they were built with a keel that protrudes from the water in a graceful curve. Above this an extension of the gunwales mirrors that curve, and the two curved elements are cross-connected by braces. Now, a reconstruction of one of the actual watercraft has shown us the true form of these boats, and proven its efficacy.

Highlighted petroglyphs, Bronze Age Scandinavian boats, animals and people. Photograph bradshawfoundation.com.

The images in pictographs and petroglyphs are tantalizing, but did not contain enough information to explain how these boats were constructed. This all changed in the second decate of the 20^th century with the discovery of the Hjortspring boat.

The reconstructed remains of the Hjortspring boat at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Internet image, public domain.

“The Hjortspring boat (Danish: Hjortspringbåden) is a vessel designed as a large canoe, from the Scandinavian Pre-Roman Iron Age. It was built circa 400–300 BC. The hull and remains were rediscovered and excavated in 1921–1922 from the bog of Hjortspring Mose on the island of Als in Sonderjylland, , southern Denmark. The boat is the oldest find of a wooden plank ship in Scandinavia and it closely resembles the thousands of petroglyiph images of Nordic Bronze Age ships found throughout Scandinavia.” (Wikipedia) Between the knowledge gained from the remaining fragments of the actual boat, and the numerous rock art images, a modern reconstruction of the boat could be assembled, using original methods and materials, and tested. A fascinating experimental archeology project.

A modern replica of the Hjortspring Boat, named the Tilia Alsie. Photograph by the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.

This reconstruction allowed Boel Bengtsson and team (2025) to perform tests in a study designed to find out if these boats could be considered practical seafaring (open ocean) transportation, or if they were confined to inland and coastal waterways following land.

Bengtsson described the area of their study. “The area of Thy is situated in northern Jutland, Denmark, on the northern shores of the sheltered inland waterways afforded by the Limfjord and with the exposed sandy seashores of the Skagerrak to the north. The strategic location on the Limfjord, which offered a relatively safe and sheltered east-westerly seafaring route, connecting the North Sea with the Baltic Sea up until its western entrance silted up in the Middle Ages, no doubt helped ensure its position as centre of wealth and power from the Late Neolithic period into the Bronze Age. Across the Skagerrak strait, the small peninsula of Lista at the very southern tip of Norway, is recognized by good agricultural land, sandy beaches, smaller inlets, waterways and fjords that could serve as portages in order to avoid the more exposed and dangerous stretches of sea around the peninsula.” (Bengtsson et al. 2025:4) So, the question is do these ancient mariners stick to a longer, safer route keeping the shore in view, or do they strike out over open water on a much shorter crossing?

This area is quite appropriate for the conduct of such a study as it encompasses Bohuslan, an amazingly endowed rock art site with huge numbers of boat images. “Bohuslän, placed roughly halfway along the coastal route between Lista and Thy, is the richest rock art area in Europe and in Scandinavia, featuring over 10,000 boat images, and is believed to have been an important boatbuilding and transit area in the Bronze Age.” (Bengtsson et al. 2025:6) There could hardly have been a more appropriate study area.

A modern image of the Tilia Alsie. From the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.

“The simulations of potential routes suggested in this paper rely on available performance data of a Bronze Age type vessel. The only vessel that can be argued represent a Bronze Age type vessel and for which such performance data exists that could be used is the c.350 BC Hjortspring boat. This boat was found during peat excavations in the Hjortspring bog on the island of Als in southern Denmark in the 1880’s and was excavated in 1921–1922. About 40% of the boat has been recovered, enabling the reconstruction of a double ended plank-built boat that from stem to stem is c. 14 meters long, with a total of 10 internal thwarts, each with carved out seats for two paddlers. The overall length of the boat is extended by two sets of horn projections at either end. The lower of these are attached to the c. 15.4 m long bottom plank which protrudes from the bottom plank at each end, whereas the upper horn projections extend outward and upwards following the shape of the gunwale, making them ideal for long distance paddling, along with two steering oars, one located at each end of the vessel. Neither of the two steering oars were complete and estimates of their individual blade lengths vary between 53 cm  to 75 cm, but could have been longer still.” (Bengtsson 2025:17-18) The finding of the Hjortspring Boat provided construction details that were not revealed by the rock art, and the rock art showed the overall ideal shape for a reconstruction.

Artist conception of a Bronze Age boat and crew. By Hakon Lystad.

“Parallels to the unusual design features of the Hjortspring boat appear in depictions of boats in both rock art and bronzes dating from c. 1600 BC onwards in Scandinavia  and are also marked out on contemporary ship-settings in the region. This, along with the refined boatbuilding technology employed in its construction, strongly suggests that it was built within a well-established Scandinavian boatbuilding tradition with its roots at the very beginning of the Bronze Age. Hence it is justifiable to refer to it as a “Bronze Age Type Boat” despite it being of a slightly younger date.” (Bengtsson 2025:19) This is attested to by the fact that the remaining fragments, when reassembled, match so many of the petroglyphs of Bronze Age boats in that area.

Highlighted petroglyph of warriors battling on a Bronze Age boat at Tanum, Sweden. Internet image, public domain.

These also provided enough data for a complete reconstruction of such a Bronze Age vessel. “A reconstruction of this boat, called the Tilia Alsie, was launched ready for sea trials in 1999, and was, between 1999 and 2001, tested extensively by both members of the Hjortspringbådens Laug and professional Dragon boat racers under the supervision of Max Vinner from the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde [83]. Both the process of reconstruction and the on-water trials and their results have been published in the Ships and Boats of the North series in a volume co-edited by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen and Athena Trakadas in 2003. Further testing of the vessel was made in 2006, this time under sail, the results of which were published in the Maritime Journal of Archaeology in 2011.” (Bengtsson 2025:19) If anyone would be able to put this reconstruction to the test it would be the professional dragon boat racers. The whole project is a great example of experimental archeology informed by both the archeological data and the rock art of Bronze Age boats so prevalent in the area.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Bengtsson, Boel, et al., 2025, Seafaring and navigation in the Nordic Bronze Age: The application of an ocean voyage tool and boat performance data for comparing direct open water crossings with sheltered coastal routes, PLoS One 20(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0320791. Accessed online 7 April 2025.

Radley, Dario, 2025, Bronze Age Scandinavians braved open seas 3,000 years before the Vikings, new study reveals, 6 April 2025, Archaeology Magazine online, https://archaeologymag.com. Accessed online 7 April 2025.

Wikipedia, Hjortspring boat, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjortsprint_boat.

 

THE KNEELING SWEDE – THE KNEELING WOMAN OF TANUM, SWEDEN:

Vitlyke Rock Art Panel, near Tanum, Sweden. The kneeling figure is in the lower right. Illustration from european-traveler.com.

The Scandinavian countries have a great deal of rock art and, as we would expect in cultures historically focused on seafaring, much of it includes ships and other maritime themes. “The west coast of Sweden - has the largest concentration of Bronze Age rock carvings in Scandinavia; and Scandinavia has the largest number of Bronze Age rock carvings in Europe. The west coast of Sweden is home to around 1,500 recorded rock engraving sites, with more being discovered every year. – By far, the most dominant theme is human figures and ships, especially ships – 10,000 of which have (been) recorded. Rock carvings in the late Bronze Age, and even the early Iron Age, often depict conflict, power, and mobility.” (Wikipedia)

“The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 1750-500 BC.” (Wikipedia)

Another view of the Vitlyke Rock Art Panel, near Tanum, Sweden. The kneeling figure is just right of center. Illustration from Wikipedia.

One interesting scene can be found at the Vitlycke Rock Art Site located at Tanum, Sweden. What appears to be the figure of a kneeling woman by the head of an elongated prone man with one leg intersecting the hull of a ship. We interpret the kneeling figure as a woman because of what appears to be long hair behind and the lack of a phallus in a panel where many male figures are portrayed and always with a prominent phallus.

Enlargement from the Vitlyke Rock Art Panel, near Tanum, Sweden. The kneeling figure is in the lower right. Illustration from european-traveler.com.

In 2021, Salmivuori wrote “We see a woman kneeling at the head of a lying man. Perhaps he is dead, and she is mourning him, or he is wounded, and she is tending to him. That is a straightforward interpretation, but there are disturbing circumstances. Why has he no arms and an empty sheath? If she were mourning her warrior husband, these attributes would have been there. If she is tending to a wounded man, why is she above his head where he cannot see her? Her arms and tense bodyline indicate that she is doing something. And what are the two objects at her hips?” (Salmivuore 2021:1-2) This last question is very problematical as many of the online photographs of the scene do not show two objects at her hip. Instead they show it as a single inverted “U-shaped” object.

“We cannot exclude females participating in trade or war ventures, either as active agents or in more supporting roles. That may very well have been the case, but rock art gives us no indication in that direction. If we stick to rock art, we can see that women had essential roles in one sector, that of rituals. We have pictures of women seen as overseers of rites, actors, dancers, bringers of offerings, and the like. In later periods, women had these essential roles as seeresses overseeing magic rituals, so it is safe to assume that something similar is happening here. In a warrior society, where violence is never far away, there might be a need for magical powers and rituals as a release. That may very well have been a sector in which women played vital roles. It is not hard to imagine a nightly scene down on the shore by a rock panel with a seeress leading a ritual, with a torch in her hand, making the figures on the rock dance, and telling the young and nervous warriors-to-be stories of the past and what life has in store for them.” (Salmivuore 2021:2-3) I think this is taking it a little far. Not that everything he states here could not be true, it very well is. I just do not think that this applies to the figures we are discussing here. If a rite or ritual is involved in this composition I believe it would be a healing or grieving rite.

“Women may or may not have participated in violent actions abroad themselves, but there is a distinct possibility that they had such ritual tasks at home. There is a possible third interpretation: The lying man could be a prisoner from the defeated ship, indicated by the lack of arms and weapons, and the woman is torturing him, possibly crushing his head with the stones she has at her hips. Similar behavior is not unknown from other warriors societies. The purpose of the act and its record on the rock art panel could be to teach the young warriors a lesson, never surrender or give up, or this would be the fate that awaited them.” (Salmivuore 2021:3) Salmivuore here interprets the two objects that he sees at her hip as stones which I would imaging would have been portrayed as round or oblong objects. As we have seen most online photos show a single inverted “U-shaped” object by her hip so I think we can disregard this interpretation.

Guernica, 1937 painting by Pablo Picasso. Photograph from Wikipedia.

This leaves us with three more possible interpretations; the enactment of some ritual or rite, tending a wounded man (and the ritual or rite may have been seen as essential to the tending this wounded man), or grieving a dying or dead man. The way the kneeling figures arms are outstretched is disturbingly reminiscent of Picasso’s Guernica and we should be careful not to let that affect our analysis.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Salmivuori, Seppo, 2021, Female agency in Bronze Age Scandinavia as represented in rock art – rethinking the mourning woman in Vitlycke, Tanum, Academia Letters, Article 1161, https://doi.org/10.20935/AL1161.3

Wikipedia, Nordic Bronze Age, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Bronze_Age, accessioned on 17 May 2022.