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Country: |
Sweden |
Locality: |
Hede |
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Region: |
Bohuslän |
Area: |
Kville |
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Environment & Surface |
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Altitude:
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50 m
Open-air
Shelter
Cave
Portable
Megalithic
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Geography: |
Gently sloping panel, facing SW. Woodland at the edge of a small meadow. |
Proximity: |
During the Bronze Age, the Jorefjord reached the crofter´s holding "Ängen" about 1 km W of the carving. There is also close proximity to the confluence of 3 rivers. |
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Geology: |
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Surface: |
Smooth, rather small surface, 12 m2. |
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Art |
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Description: |
Engravings
Paintings
Painted engravings
High or low-relief
Sculpture
Hede, Kville parish. The carving is quite small, only about 12 square meters, and consists of c. 260 figures of which 220 cup marks. There are 4 ship figures and 3 animals. What makes the carving interesting and almost extraordinary, are the human figures and their attributes. The human figures have rectangular upper part of the body (sometimes only contour-carved) and enlarged calves, and about 16-100 cm long. The majority have horned helmets and sword-hilts with ferrule, the largest figure is equipped with a spear. In the lower left part of the panel, there is a warrior with a circular head and a sword-hilt with an unusually well-shaped ferrule; in the left hand there is a round shield of Hallstatt-type. There are 5 similar shields at the carving, although not carried by warriors. A few warriors at the upper part have axes with wide and curved edges. The largest warrior is carved over one of the shields. The panel is partly severely weathered, but the carvings are unusually distinct and deeply carved out. There is also an acrobat holding on to one of the ship figures. There are 2 more panels in the area.
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Figures: |
total number 260
220 cup marks
Human figures
4 Ship figures
6 Hallstatt-shields
Swords with ferrule
3 Animal figures
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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.
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Notes: |
What makes the carving interesting and almost extraordinary, are the human figures and their attributes. The panel is partly severely weathered, but the carvings are unusually distinct and deeply carved out. The human figures have rectangular upper part of the body (sometimes only contour-carved) and enlarged calves, and about 16-100 cm long. The majority have horned helmets and sword-hilts with ferrule, the largest figure is equipped with a spear. In the lower left part of the panel, there is a warrior with a circular head and a sword-hilt with an unusually well-shaped ferrule; in the left hand there is a round shield of Hallstatt-type. There are 5 similar shields at the carving, although not carried by warriors. A few warriors at the upper part have axes with wide and curved edges. The largest warrior is carved over one of the shields. There is also an acrobat holding on to one of the ship figures. The Hallstatt-shields are exact copies of real shields found in Bronze Age contexts. |
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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. Parts of the Hede panel are subject to weathering. |
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Conservation: |
Good
Quite good
Mediocre
Bad
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Intervention: |
The environmental pollution project in Sweden was started in 1989 with the express purpose of examining the influence of the pollution on relics of culture including rock carvings. This was done to get a survey of the full extent of the damage. The project is run by the Riksantikvarieämbetet (Raä), Central Board of National Antiquities. On the basis of the results of the examination the Raä will estimate the possibilities of acute and long term arrangements of preservation. |
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By |
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| Record n. 769 / 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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