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Description: |
Engravings
Paintings
Painted engravings
High or low-relief
Sculpture
Skälv, Borg parish, Östergötland. There are a number of panels with rock carvings all around the Skälv farm on both sides of E4 road. The carvings are found on small and medium size rock surfaces, slightly sloping and polished by the ice. There are a number of ship figures, on panel 1 there are 22 double-lined ships with short crew-lines, extended keel-line and extended and upturned prow. There are also two obscure figures, possible humans in some kind of garment or ceremonial dressing. There are also a number of cup marks and a wheel cross. On other panels on the other side of E4 road, there are figures like ships of which some are double-lined without crewstrokes, single-lined without crew strokes and double-lined with crew strokes. There are also strange figures called "frame figures" which are unique and unusual. Similar figures (although not rectangular) are found on panels in Bohuslän. There are symbolic designs like contour-carved foot prints, of which some with heel and some without. There are also animal figures, wheel crosses, a few weapons (mainly axes) and circular designs with a cup mark in the middle. Cup marks are found all over the carvings.
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Figures: |
Ship figures/double-lined with crew strokes/without crewstrokes, with x-frame lines in the hull/totally carved out hull with crew strokes
Wheel crosses
Human figures
Wheel crosses
Frame figures
Discs/triple with cup mark/single without cup mark.
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Chronology: |
Palaeolithic
Epipalaeolithic - Mesolithic
Neolithic
Copper Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Roman
Middle Age
Modern
Unknown
The rock carvings in Östergötland are generally dated to the Bronze Age, c. 1800-500 BC on basis of the position in the landscape, the relation to other ancient monuments and of the combinations of different figures and motifs. Bronze Age, Carving, Rock art, Open air, Wheel cross, Human figures, Horsemen, Dancer, Weapon, Axes, Shafted dagger, Ceremonial, Megalithic, Ship figures, Cup marks.
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Notes: |
The province of Östergötland in Sweden, has long been well-known for its profusion of rock carvings, but figurative carvings only abound in a small area to the W of Norrköping; elsewhere they are few and far between. It is probable that the Norrköping district was of importance as a religious centre on several spatial and social levels in a tribal society: local, regional and supra-regional; perhaps with Ekenberg functioning on the highest level. The widespread cup mark sites, on the other hand, were utilised for a domestic cult on a microlevel, probably prevailing into the Iron Age and perhaps longer (Selinge 1989:234). |
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