num_pages: 192
description: This major new study by one of Europe’s leading prehistorians presents and discusses a series of rock art engravings from a Bronze Age barrow in Ljungarum parish, Jönköping Län, situated in the central part of southern Sweden. Sagaholm contains the largest group of rock engravings discovered in a burial context in northern Europe. Joachim Goldhahn addresses a number of aspects of the use of rock engravings in burial rituals during the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1600–1100 BC), combining the antiquarian and scientific history of this extraordinary find. In order to understand the meaning and significance of the rock art in the barrow, the author presents a theoretical argument that the art is meaningfully composed and can been seen as the result of an active symbolic praxis which mirrors a metaphorical way of thinking. Special concern is given to the frequent horse motifs at Sagaholm, and it is argued that they, and the morphology of this particular barrow, can be seen as a metaphor for a new and exotic cosmology that reached southern Scandinavia during the Middle Bronze Age. It is further suggested that this extraordinary find points to a (re)interpretation of Scandinavian Bronze Age rock art as an important part of burial ritual, linked to certain beliefs about the regeneration of life.Table of ContentsChapter 1 IntroductionPrimary objectives and questionsDefinitionImplementation and acknowledgementsOrganisation of the bookChapter 2 An antiquarian biographyThe oldest sourcesThe 1971 excavationResearch methods and reporting‘A sensation’Forgotten finds from SagaholmThe spearheadChapter 3 In the name of scienceAnders WihlborgHarry BergenbladGöran BurenhultMats P. MalmerJarl NordbladhKlavs RandsborgSummaryChapter 4 The motifsDocumentationTechnical concepts and terminologyMotifs by slabThe other sandstone slabs in the kerbDiscussionTechnique and motifTechniques and details on the motifsFinal commentsChapter 5 The monumentMorphology of the barrowProfilesPlansParallelsLogisticsHistory of the sandstone slabsWhy the choice of sandstone?Chapter 6 ChronologyThe Carbon 14 methodComparative datingAnalogies to barrowsConclusionChapter 7 Narrative and metaphorsInterpreting rock artA narrative landscape in miniatureNarrative metaphorics of the bodyMetaphorics of the burial monumentRegarding the significance of the cup marked stonesDigression – rock engravingsChapter 8 Beyond SagaholmCreation myths, chaos and material cultureThe significance of the burial ceremonyBeyond SagaholmA scenarioThe metaphorics of burial monumentsThe metaphorics of the bodyThe metaphorics of the grave gifts and ornamentationsChapter 9 Return to SagaholmThe burial ritual’s rite of passageExclusionLiminal phaseIncorporationReferences
language: English
title: Sagaholm: North European Bronze Age Rock Art and Burial Ritual
publisher: Oxbow Books