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Country: |
Sweden |
Locality: |
Tanum raä 25 |
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Region: |
Bohuslän |
Area: |
Tanum |
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Environment & Surface |
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Altitude:
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20 m
Open-air
Shelter
Cave
Portable
Megalithic
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Geography: |
Situated c. 100 m S of the great Aspeberget panel T-12 carving is found in the lower parts of a minor area of flat rocks. |
Proximity: |
Close to the major field with carvings at Aspeberget T-12 A. The Tanum river is in the vicinity, so is a grave field with c. 10 smaller mounds now totally covered by pine and bush vegetation. |
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Geology: |
Granite. |
Surface: |
Two panels with carvings. The southern panel is substantially coloured by iron sediments and white in colour by chalk- or salt sediments at the edge of water flow. |
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Art |
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Description: |
Engravings
Paintings
Painted engravings
High or low-relief
Sculpture
T-25 Tegneby 4:3 Aspeberget is situated c. 100 m from the main panel at Aspeberget T-12 A. There are two panels with carvings. The northern one is not painted but partly distinctly carved out. It consists of c. 5 panels with carvings with a total number of c. 100 figures. The southern panel is substantially coloured by iron sediments and white in colour by chalk- or salt sediments at the edge of water flow, and consists of c. 120 figures. Half the number are ship figures.
There are a total number of 88 ship figures of which 80 has crew-strokes, 7 without crew-strokes and one has a human figure. There are 24 human figures, 23 with sex (male), 1 with sex (female), 1 with rounded body, 23 with body not rounded, 3 with tool/weapon, 20 without tool/weapon.
There are 5 weapons, of which 2 are spears, 1 shield, 1 bow and arrow and 1 sword. There are 20 animal figures, of which 1 horse, 5 oxen and 14 other obscure figures. There are 3 circle figures, 2 with cross and 1 obscure. There are a total number of 78 cup marks.
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Figures: |
total number 218
88 ship figures
24 human figures
5 weapons
20 animals
3 circle figures
78 cup marks.
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Chronology: |
Palaeolithic
Epipalaeolithic - Mesolithic
Neolithic
Copper Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Roman
Middle Age
Modern
Unknown
The rock carvings of Southern Scandinavia are generally dated to the middle and later part of the Bronze Age, c. 1500-500 BC. Occasionally, more absolute dating of single panels or figures can be made, based on typological or stylistic features of the image, and by comparisons with identifiable objects. The Aspberget panel are generally thought to belong to the Late Bronze Age c. 1100-500 BC.
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Notes: |
T-25 Tegneby 4:3 Aspeberget are known since many years and the great variation of figures and images, groupings and scenes, and unexpected partly hidden panels makes the locality interesting and nice to explore. Some of the combinations are very unusual, as the bull with a human figure equipped with an axe in its horns. Similar depictions are found in the Minoan culture, the bull-leaping games in honour of the gods. |
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Bibliography |
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Conservation |
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Status: |
Public
Private
Park
Classified site
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Risk: |
The major risk for rock carvings are chemical weathering, which makes the hard quartzite losen up and fall out, leaving white dots on the darker rock surface. Also natural weathering (mechanical weathering) during winter/spring, when water freeze in cracks and openings in the rock, creates major damage to rock faces with carvings. The biological weathering is also a danger to the rock carvings, and even to intense cleaning of the rock surface during documentation can make the rock fragile and expose the carvings to wind, water and air-born pollution.
Some of the figures are subject to severe weathering, and the carvings may not be touched. |
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Conservation: |
Good
Quite good
Mediocre
Bad
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Intervention: |
Problems concerning conservation and preservation, registration and documentation of rock carvings in Scandinavia are discussed by several departments, i.e. Riksantikvaren in Norway, Riksantikvarieämbetet in Sweden, several universities and research departments. Different methods are tested, for example covering of carved surfaces, measuring of temperature and different contents in water and air and also the composition in the granite. Hollows and cracks in the rock surface can be repaired and carefully filled in. An easy method of taking care of the rock surface is by ordinary sweeping. The Bronze Age environment has been restored by careful site management, mainly by clearing out pine-trees and the lower vegetation in order to create a more open and original environment. Parts of the Aspeberget locality has been covered by roof, others have been covered by sand and earth and some of the figures of the Souhtern panel has been painted. |
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By |
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Record n. 783 / 807 |
No commercial use is allowed. Specific © is mentioned in the captions or owned by each Author or Institution |
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EuroPreArt, European Prehistoric Art, is a web-based archaeological project funded by the European Union which aims to establish a lasting data-base of European prehistoric art documentation, to launch the base of an European institutional network and to contribute to the awareness of the diversity and richness of European Prehistoric Art.
It is proposed by: Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT, Portugal),
CUEBC - European University Centre for Cultural Heritage (Italy - Europe),
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España),
Asociación Cultural Colectivo Barbaón (España),
Université de Liège (Belgique),
Gotland University College (Sverige),
University College Dublin (Eire),
Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo (Italia),
Study Centre and Museum of Prehistoric Art of
Pinerolo (Italia),
The European Centre for Prehistoric Research in the Alto Ribatejo (Portugal),
ArqueoJovem - a youth NGO (Portugal).
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