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Name      
Sweden    Brastad, Backa EuroPreArt - European Prehistoric Art

Sweden Image map
Keywords: Bronze Age, Rock Art, Open Air, Carving, Human figures, Ship figures, "The Cobbler", Birds, Chariots, Weapon.
Institution: Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.  http://www.hgo.se/
Record
proposed
by
Gotland University - Sweden
 
Location
Specific feedbackSpecific feedback

Country:

Sweden

Locality:

Backa

Region:

Bohuslän

Area:

Brastad

 

click to enlarge
"The Cobbler" panel in its environment, at the base of a ridge at the edge of farmland (photo Li Winter 2000).
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Copyright. No commercial use of EuroPreArt content is allowed. Specific © for pictures and drawings is mentioned in the captions or owned by each Author or Institution.
Disclaim. The EuroPreArt project fully endorses the most recent documentation policies. It must be outlined the absolute forbidding of any disruptive method and the necessity of a total respect for archaeological sites. It is also to be noticed that no substances shall be applied to rock art for recording purposes. Some pictures of the EuroPreArt records are related to past recording techniques and may not fully match these policies. They are an historical documentation. Please refer to local archaeological official authorities for any recording purpose. Please take a look also over EuroPreArt guidelines.
 
Environment & Surface

Open-air   Shelter   Cave Portable   Megalithic

Geography:
Area of rock carvings, a number of panels at the left side along the road from Backa - Immestad, 270 m S of crossroad. Panels overlooking the fields. E base of ridge.

Proximity:

In the vicinity of the sea, area of arable land.

Geology:

Greyish kind of rock.

Surface:

Smooth, sloping surfaces. Microflora.

Dimensions:
Length 8.00 m.  Width 3.00 m.

 

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Art        

Description:

Engravings   Paintings   Painted engravings   High or low-relief   Sculpture
Backa, Brastad parish. The carvings are situated on a number of panels along the road Backa - Immestad. The locality is situated at the base of a major ridge, just at the edge of farmingland. The first large panel are situated c. 300 m from crossroad, and is generally called "Field of the Cobbler", because of the huge human figure (1.5 m) phallic, raised axe and a neck-ring. At the feet of this figure there are a chariot and further below a ship with 6 human figures, solemnly looking. Even further below, there are a number of large figures, including a number of birds with long legs and a ship with crew in stem and stern. On the left side of the panel are a ship with snake-like decoration. The area of rock carvings continues further down the road, for c. 300 m. Another field, c. 8 m wide, consists a number of strange figures, for example 2 big animals, elk-looking but with long tails and hanging heads. Here are also deers. Close to the centre, there are several discs or wheels, and at the base a "sun-chariot" - 2 wheels with a large disc and a mantle-design. There are about 7 similar chariots. Another panel has a 3.5 m long ship figure with a spiral decoration in the prow, and a number of cup marks above and under the hull. At another field, there is a large, impressive disc at a triple-pole. A bit further down the road, following a path up to a house, there are a few more panels with carvings. 80 m straight on from the buildings there are a small panel, 6 m wide with some interesting figures. The panel is dominated by a large ship, 2 m long, with a turned prow. There are a number of other, smaller ship figures all around. There are also 2 horses, turned towards each other, with 2 acrobats and a large lying human figure with a smaller one rising up from the chest.

Figures:
total number 150
Ship figures Human figures Birds Animals/horses/elks(?) Wheel crosses Circle figures Weapon Chariots Cup marks

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.

Notes:

The rock carvings at Backa were among the first to be discovered in Sweden. Interestingly enough, the large phallic human figure with the axe has long been known locally and goes by the name of "The Cobbler" .
 
Bibliography        





European total bibliography, by EuroPreArt partnersTotal (Europe)
Sweden EuroPreArt general bibliography, by Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.General (country)
Specific Brastad, Backa bibliography, by Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.Specific (site)
Rock Art Studies: A Bibliographic worldwide Database (external link). Compiled by Leigh Marymor. Copyright (C) 2001-2002 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley Bibliographic
Rock Art
Database

 

click to enlarge
click to enlarge
 
Conservation        

Status:

Public   Private   Park   Classified site

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.

Conservation:

Good   Quite good   Mediocre   Bad

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.

 

By          

Compiler:

Li Winter 2001.

Institution:

Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.  http://www.hgo.se/
 
         Record n. 759 / 807
No commercial use is allowed. Specific © is mentioned in the captions or owned by each Author or Institution  
 
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NEW: Alpine rock paintings
enter the Balma dei Cervi Virtual Museum and surf the Virtual Tour: spherical pano-views,
hi-def flat photos and tracings


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).
Instituto Politécnico de Tomar - Portugal CUEBC - European University Centre for Cultural Heritage, Ravello - Italy CSIC - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid - Spain Orme dell'Uomo - Footsteps of Man, Valcamonica - Italy Asociación Cultural Colectivo Barbaón, Extremadura -Spain Liège University - Belgium Gotland University - Sweden University College Dublin - Ireland CeSMAP - Centro Studi e Museo d'Arte Preistorica. Pinerolo, Italy Arqueo Jovem

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