'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia
The Mesolithic through to the Bronze Age in Scandinavia was a period of erratic, sometimes extreme, environmental change. Prehistoric Scandinavians inhabited the coasts and experienced post-glacial isostatic, eustatic and climatic fluctuations. We are now more capable of scientifically reconstructin...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Book section |
| Language: | English |
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Archaeopress
2013
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| _version_ | 1797110969871106048 |
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| author | Nimura, C |
| author2 | van der Wilt, EM |
| author_facet | van der Wilt, EM Nimura, C |
| author_sort | Nimura, C |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | The Mesolithic through to the Bronze Age in Scandinavia was a period of erratic, sometimes extreme, environmental change. Prehistoric Scandinavians inhabited the coasts and experienced post-glacial isostatic, eustatic and climatic fluctuations. We are now more capable of scientifically reconstructing these fluctuations, and these contemporary data have sparked a new interest in reviewing existing research within more informed environmental contexts. Archaeological examples from this region such as rock carvings and ornamented portable artefacts have often been discussed in terms of cosmology and religion, and many depict elements of the environment. Environmental changes would have had an effect on how prehistoric Scandinavians perceived their surroundings and subsequently influenced their ‘worldviews’, social practices, rituals, and central to all of these their ‘art’. This paper presents research on the distribution and geographical contexts of a group of ornamented artefacts from Mesolithic Denmark. That research is the foundation of an exploration of the relationship between prehistoric Scandinavians and the critical changes in their environment, and its possible effects on the social action of the production and consumption of art. Understanding the complex ways in which humans are known to perceive their surroundings requires a methodology reaching beyond empirical material studies and involving disciplines outside archaeology. This paper explores the use of such a methodology. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:02:06Z |
| format | Book section |
| id | oxford-uuid:6fa180f4-83cb-4a25-9b71-bcd06b75b56e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:02:06Z |
| publishDate | 2013 |
| publisher | Archaeopress |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6fa180f4-83cb-4a25-9b71-bcd06b75b56e2023-10-05T15:30:04Z'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric ScandinaviaBook sectionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843uuid:6fa180f4-83cb-4a25-9b71-bcd06b75b56eEnglishSymplectic ElementsArchaeopress2013Nimura, Cvan der Wilt, EMMartínez Jiménez, JPetruccioli, GThe Mesolithic through to the Bronze Age in Scandinavia was a period of erratic, sometimes extreme, environmental change. Prehistoric Scandinavians inhabited the coasts and experienced post-glacial isostatic, eustatic and climatic fluctuations. We are now more capable of scientifically reconstructing these fluctuations, and these contemporary data have sparked a new interest in reviewing existing research within more informed environmental contexts. Archaeological examples from this region such as rock carvings and ornamented portable artefacts have often been discussed in terms of cosmology and religion, and many depict elements of the environment. Environmental changes would have had an effect on how prehistoric Scandinavians perceived their surroundings and subsequently influenced their ‘worldviews’, social practices, rituals, and central to all of these their ‘art’. This paper presents research on the distribution and geographical contexts of a group of ornamented artefacts from Mesolithic Denmark. That research is the foundation of an exploration of the relationship between prehistoric Scandinavians and the critical changes in their environment, and its possible effects on the social action of the production and consumption of art. Understanding the complex ways in which humans are known to perceive their surroundings requires a methodology reaching beyond empirical material studies and involving disciplines outside archaeology. This paper explores the use of such a methodology. |
| spellingShingle | Nimura, C 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title | 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title_full | 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title_fullStr | 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title_full_unstemmed | 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title_short | 'Five feet high and rising’: environmental crises and the art of prehistoric Scandinavia |
| title_sort | five feet high and rising environmental crises and the art of prehistoric scandinavia |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nimurac fivefeethighandrisingenvironmentalcrisesandtheartofprehistoricscandinavia |