Roaring Rocks: An Audio-Visual Perspective on Hunter-Gatherer Engravings in Northern Sweden and Scandinavia

This article attempts to extend the study of rock-art beyond the visual to include the non-visual experiences and perceptions of human beings. It is argued that there is ‘more than meets the eye ’ when interpreting rock-art. Rather than restricting interpretation to the visual, the relationship between rock ‘art’, rock-art ‘site ’ and the wider landscape is considered as articulated within a socially and historically specific Neolithic (ca. 4000–500 BC) hunter-gatherer ‘mindscape’. An audio-visual perspective is argued, where the auditory sense and visual experience of the landscape combine in a vital interplay that is essential to the interpretation of 25 out of about 80 known rock-engraving sites in northern Scandinavia (ca. 33%). These sites have in common a strong water-centric focus; in particular noisy, running water. This approach provides a more profound understanding of these rock-art sites and the prehistoric use of ‘images ’ as transmitters of different kinds of knowledge from the mundane to the esoteric. It is argued that the ebb and flow of water and human breath are analogous within a frame of enquiry that also considers shamanistic practice in approaching and experiencing these rock-engraving sites. ‘Dad! Don’t believe everything you think! ’ (Hedvig Joakimsdotter Goldhahn