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Name      
Denmark    Østerlars, Lensbjerg klint EuroPreArt - European Prehistoric Art
Denmark Image map
Keywords: Bronze Age, rock art, carving, open air, ship figures, cup marks, ridge.
Institution: Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.  http://www.hgo.se/
Record
proposed
by
 Gotland University - Sweden
 
Location
Specific feedbackSpecific feedback

Country:

 Denmark

Locality:

 Lehnsbjerg klint, Lensgård

Region:

 Bornholm

Area:

 Østerlars

 

click to enlarge
Photo showing the landscape, the sea is visible in the background (photo Gerhard Milstreau, Tanums Hällristningsmuseum).
click to enlarge
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

Altitude:

110 m
Open-air   Shelter   Cave Portable   Megalithic

Geography:
The locality is situated at a ridge c.110 mas, on a flat rock surface facing N. Pasture land surrounds the carved rock face.

Proximity:

 The sea is visible from the locality, and there is very good view over the surrounding area with roads and paths crossing the landscape.

Geology:
Granite.

Surface:
Flat surface, with a few cracks not disturbing the carvings.

Dimensions:
Length 2.50 m.  Width 2.00 m.

 

click to enlarge
 
Art        

Description:

 Engravings   Paintings   Painted engravings   High or low-relief   Sculpture
The engravings are made on a flat rock surface, divided by natural cracks in the rock, creating separate fields. There are 6 ship figures of Bornholm type, with two lined hulls with stem and prow turned elegantly up- and inwards. The gunwale-line also extends upwards. The gunwale- line of two of the ships ends with a dot, and one of those has got two cup marks in the hull. The hulls are divided by three to seven vertical lines. There are no crew-lines. The cup marks are distributed over the surface, forming groups with a varied number of figures.

Figures:
total number 56
6 ship figures + 50 cup marks

Chronology:

 Palaeolithic   Epipalaeolithic - Mesolithic   Neolithic   Copper Age   Bronze Age   Iron Age   Roman   Middle Age   Modern   Unknown
The relative dating of the rock carvings of Bornholm are that they belong to the Bronze Age, c. 1800-500 BC. In a few cases finds dated to the Bronze Age have been made very close to the rock carving locality and also comparative analyses of style in the ship figures suggests a Bronze Age dating. The carvings are also found along the right level above the sea during this period.

Notes:
The rock carvings on Bornholm are different from the Danish carvings in general, concerning the figures represented. The Danish rock carvings consists mostly of cup marks, wheel crosses, hand- and foot signs found on single rocks, on stone graves and inside the chamber. But also ship figures are present. The Bornholm ship figures are special in style, with no resemblance found in the South Scandinavian rock carving tradition. Ship figures have so far only been found on Northern Bornholm, and cup marks together with foot signs are found all over the island. New localities are discovered continuously.
 
Bibliography        





European total bibliography, by EuroPreArt partnersTotal (Europe)
Denmark EuroPreArt general bibliography, by Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.General (country)
Specific Østerlars, Lensbjerg klint 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

 

 
Conservation        

Status:

 Public   Private   Park   Classified site

Risk:
The major risk for 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. Many of the carvings on Bornholm are situated in grazing areas, with cows and sheep creating damage to the surface.

Conservation:

 Good   Quite good   Mediocre   Bad

Intervention:
Occasionally the rock surface are covered with earth and sand to prevent weathering. When there are animals causing damage, fences have being put up around the carved area, but not at this site.

 
By          

Compiler:

 Li Winter

Institution:

 Gotland University College, Visby, Sweden.  http://www.hgo.se/
 
         Record n. 6 / 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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