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Country: |
Sweden |
Locality: |
Litsleby raä 75 |
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Region: |
Bohuslän |
Area: |
Tanum |
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Environment & Surface |
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Altitude:
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30 m
Open-air
Shelter
Cave
Portable
Megalithic
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Geography: |
Smooth rock, sloping 10-15º, facing W at the edge of wood. |
Proximity: |
10 m SE of road between Tegneby and Litsleby. 20 m from smaller moss, there is a marsh just below the carving. Above the carving, an Iron Age burial ground. |
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Geology: |
Granite. |
Surface: |
Very smooth sloping rock, |
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Dimensions:
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Length 14.00 m.
Width 7.00 m.
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Art |
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Description: |
Engravings
Paintings
Painted engravings
High or low-relief
Sculpture
Litsleby 1:4, Tanum no. 75. There is a total number of 250 figures, of which 122 are cup marks. There are 82 ship figures, 20-280 cm long; 4 human figures, 5-235 cm high; 19 animals, 11-44 cm with 4 riders. There are 7 foot prints, 24-26 cm long, of which 4 in pairs. There are 2 crosses, 14 cm and 1 pair of legs, 16 cm high. There is one pole, 38 cm high, 11 marks, 8-24 cm.
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Figures: |
total number 250
82 ship figures
4 human figures
19 animals
7 foot prints
1 circle
2 crosses
1 pair of legs
1 pole
11 marks
122 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. Some of the figures at Litsleby show similarities with finds dated to the 4th Century BC, for example the horseman with a rectangular shield and the two large ships which show a close similarity to the "Hjortspring Boat".
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Notes: |
The Litsleby panel is situated only 100 m from the famous horsemen scene at Tegneby. The huge human figure has been interpreted as the god Odin. According to the saga, Odin threw his spear at the enemy who was thereby destroyed. The large warrior, over 2 meter in height, was cut on top of other figures and was probably the last carving made on the rock. The spear is pointed towards North (Högberg 1995:46). |
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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. |
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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. 788 / 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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