The Earliest Boat Depiction in Northern Europe: Newly Discovered Early Mesolithic Rock Art at Valle, Northern Norway

Abstract

Summary The oldest boat depictions in rock art from northern Europe have previously been dated to about 5500–5000 BC. A recent discovery of rock art boat depictions at Valle in Nordland County, northern Norway, made in the ground technique, pre‐dates the earlier known boat depictions by more than 3000 years. The rock art at Valle is dated by shoreline dating to be between 10,000 and 11,000 years old. The find has implications for the rock art material record, is likely to alter current views and have an impact on the research history of rock art in northern Norway. The boat is depicted in outline, life size, measuring more than 4 m in length. The closest parallels are the Arctic skin boats found in the ethnographic record. The settlement record from northernmost Europe during the Early Mesolithic supports a maritime and highly mobile strategy that would require boats and an advanced maritime technology. It would not be possible to settle the numerous islands along the coast without seaworthy boats. The boat find has implications for the appreciation of the maritime colonization of seascapes in northern Norway during the Early Mesolithic, being part of the pioneer settling of northernmost Europe after the Ice Age.

Tales of middle Mesolithic cultural transformations and marine adaptation:

“…The naturalistic polished art found in the Ofoten and Steigen areas illustrate different types of prey for a marine adapted population as does the recently found umiaklike boat from Valle, -a vital part of the marine foraging technology (Gjerde 2021). The rock art sites have been taken to represent arenas of ritual practice for the pioneer groups that first arrived in this landscape (Gjerde 2021). The interpretation of the role of rock art as a material culture expression is challenging but can most directly be associated with myths, illustrations of hunting scenes and communication with the other world in a context of rite of passage (Gjerde 2010).…”

“…275), even though the precision of dating rock art by shoreline displacement may be estimated there are indications that several of the Northern Norwegian sites predate the cultural transformations happening around 9500 cal BP. The naturalistic polished art found in the Ofoten and Steigen areas illustrate different types of prey for a marine adapted population as does the recently found umiaklike boat from Valle, -a vital part of the marine foraging technology (Gjerde 2021). The rock art sites have been taken to represent arenas of ritual practice for the pioneer groups that first arrived in this landscape (Gjerde 2021).…”

Delivering the Deep: Maritime archaeology for the 21st century: selected papers from IKUWA 7

“…up to 25 'rods' in one boat at the Vyg River, while there are not more than 12 at Lake Kanozero) (Zhulnikov 2006: 108). According to the ethnographical data on the Chukchi/Inuit, four to eight or five to 10 people could take part in the sea mammal hunt in the average umiak frame boat, and for travelling, up to 20 people might take a single boat (Anichtchenko 2016;Gjerde 2021). The social aspects of the crew images in Scandinavian rock art have been addressed several times: the difference in person's size and attributes has been recognised as a potential source of data to investigate leadership, family and gender issues (Helskog 1985;Ling 2012).…”

“…Glørstad 2013;Gjerde 2021), but a wooden kayak detail in western Greenland radiocarbon dated to around 2200 cal BC(Grønnow 1994;Anichtchenko 2016: 46) provides a reason to believe that skin boats already existed during the Stone Age. Similarly, a ceramic canoe model dated to around the same time helped us to re-evaluate the role and antiquity of bark boats in the forest zone.…”

A simulation-based assessment of the relation between Stone Age sites and relative sea-level change along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast

“…This method, also called shoreline dating, has long history of use in the region and is frequently applied to assign an approximate date to diverse archaeological phenomena such as rock art, grave cairns, various harbour and sea-side constructions and, as is the focus of this study, Stone Age sites (e.g. Åkerlund 1996;Bjerck 2005;Gjerde 2021;Løken 1977;Nordqvist 1995;Schmitt et al 2009;Sognnes 2003;Tallavaara and Pesonen 2020;Wikell et al 2009).…”