Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Silence of Signs—Power of Symbols: Rock Art, Landscape and Social Semiotics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Rock Art and Sacred Landscapes

Part of the book series: One World Archaeology ((WORLDARCH,volume 8))

Abstract

Language is an important tool in social communication, but not all communication is channeled through verbal or linguistic expressions. Rock art is an example of visual symbols used in complicated systems of social communication. Rock art became an integrated part of the landscape, and through cognitive symbols, expressions were fixed in a physical, long-lasting medium. In this chapter rock art is seen through social semiotics, a theory about signs and symbols, and how they play an important part in communication between people in public space. Central to social semiotic theory is the principal of “message/reception”, the sender of the message, and the receiver of the message and the symbol convey a message. Social semiotics has uncovered that symbols and structures of symbols often serve as a medium for communication between powerful forces in society and the individual. Rock art was probably a far more diverted, cultural specific, and complex structure in prehistoric societies, therefore it is far more complicated to interpret today than we believe. In this chapter I will present a case study from South Scandinavia, and in this specific context, political control of a certain territory seems important for production of rock art.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Almgren, O. (1926–27). Hällristningarochkultbruk. Stockholm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Althusser, L. (1971). Ideology and ideolgiocal state apparatuses. In L. Althusser (Ed.), Lenin and philosophy and other essays (pp. 127–186). New Books: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barthes, R. (1973). Mythologies. London: Paladin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowen, J. D. (1967). The Hallstatt sword of bronze: On the continent and in Britain. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 33, 377–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crumlin-Pedersen, O. (2003). The Hjortspring boat in a ship-archaeological context. In O. Crumlin-Pedersen & A. Trakadas (Eds.), Hjortspring a pre-roman iron-age warship in context (Vol. 5). Roskilde: The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunliffe, B. (1997). The ancient Celts. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demarest, A. A., & Conrad, G. W. (1992). Ideology and pre-Columbian civilization. School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series. New Mexico: Santa Fe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derrida, J. (1978). Writing and difference. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earle, T. K. (1987). Chiefdoms in archaeological and ethnohistorical perspective. Annual Review of Anthropology, 16, 279–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Earle, T. K. (1991). Chiefdoms: Power, economy and ideology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Earle, T. K. (1997). How chiefs come to power. The political economy in prehistory. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekhoff, E. (1880). Qville härads fasta fornlemningar. Bidrag til Göteborgs och Bohusläns Fornminnen och Historia. Länets hushållnings-sällskap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferrell, J. (1996). Crimes of Style: Urban graffiti and the politics of criminality. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forsberg, L. (1993). En kronologisk analys av ristningarna vid Nämforsen. In L. Forsberg & T. B. Larsson (Eds.), Ekonomi och näringsformer i nordisk bronsalder (Vol. 1). Umeå: Studia Archaeologica Universitatis Umensis 3. Arkeologiska Institusjonen Umeå Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse of language. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredell, Å. (2003). Bildbroar Figurativ bildkommunikasjon av ideology ochkosmologi under sydskandinavisk bronsålder och förromers järnalder. GOTARC Serie B. Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredsjö, Å. (1981). Hällristningar i Kville härad i Bohuslän. Kville socken. Del 1 och 2. - Studier i nordisk arkeologi 14/15, Göteborg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1981). A contemporary critique of historical materialism. London: McMillian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gräslund, BO. (1996). Arkeologisk datering. Lund.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkes, T. (1977). Structuralism and semiotics. London: Methuen.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, R., & Kress, G. (1988). Social semiotics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. (1997). Fra Bronze-til Jernalder—En kronologisk undersøgelse. Nordiske Fortidsminder Serie B. København: Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kristiansen, K. (1998). Europe before history. New studies in archeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lacan, J. (1977). Écrits: A selection. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lèvi-Strauss, C. (1966). The savage mind. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malmer, M. P. (1981). A chorological study of North European Rock Art. Stockholm: Antikvariskaserien 32. Kungl. Vitterhets Historieoch Antikvitets Akademien. Almqvist & Wiksell Internasjonal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marstrander, S. (1963). Østfolds Jordbruksristninger, Skjeberg. Serie B: Skrifter LIII. Oslo: Instituttet for sammenlignende kulturforskning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pare, C. F. F. (1991). Swords, wagon-graves, and the beginning the early iron age in central Europe (Vol. 37). Marburg: IKleine Schriftenausdem Vorgeschichtlichen Seminar der Phillipes-Universität.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilles, P., & Vaughan, T. (2003). Supernatural and cermonialism: Yavapai rock art of the Red Rocks country, Sedona, Arizona. In Etnography and North American Rock Art. Paper presented at the 30th Annual Conference of the American Rock Art Research Association, San Bernardino, California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prucel, R. W., & Bauer, A. A. (2001). Archaeological pragmatics. Norwegian Archaeological Review, 34(2), 85–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reith, A. (1942). Die Eisentechnik der Hallstattzeit. Leipzig: Johann Ambrozius Barth Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (1989). Hermeneutics and the human sciences. Essays on language, action and interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaafsma, P. (1980). Indian Rock Art of the Southwest. School of American Research. Albuquerque: Santa Fe/University of New Mexico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schauer, P. (1971). Die Schwerter in Sütddeutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz I. München: Prähistorische Bronzefunde.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilley, C. (1994). A phenomenology of landscape. Places, paths and monuments. Oxford: Berg Publisher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valeri, V. (1985). Kingship and Sacrifice: Ritual and Society in Ancient Hawaii. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, D. (2006). Helleristningeri Østfoldog Bohuslän. En analyse av det økonomiske og politiske landskap. Acta Humaniora nr. 254. Oslo: Universiteteti Oslo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, D. (2011). Rock carvings in Østfold and Bohuslän, South Scandinavia. An interpretation of political and economic landscapes. Skrifter serie B. Oslo: The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, Novus forlag Oslo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vogt, D. (2012). Østfolds Helleristninger. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    David Vogt

Authors
  1. David Vogt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Donna L. Gillette

  2. Greer Services Archaeological Consultants, Casper, Wyoming, USA

    Mavis Greer

  3. Panamerican Consultants, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Michele Helene Hayward

  4. Social Sciences, University of Monterrey, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León, Mexico

    William Breen Murray

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Vogt, D. (2014). Silence of Signs—Power of Symbols: Rock Art, Landscape and Social Semiotics. In: Gillette, D., Greer, M., Helene Hayward, M., Breen Murray, W. (eds) Rock Art and Sacred Landscapes. One World Archaeology, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8406-6_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation