Masters of Water and Stone : Exploring the Role of Rock Art Carvers in Nordic Bronze Age Societies

For over two centuries, Nordic Bronze Age rock art (c. 1700–500 BC) has been central to debates on religion, mythology, ideology, warfare, and economy in prehistoric Scandinavia. While the carvings have undeniably shaped our interpretation of the period, far less attention has been given to the carvers themselves. Consequently, our understanding of how these individuals acquired, performed, and transmitted their social role remains limited. These three questions form the core of this volume. Through their examination, the study offers new insights into the relationship between social organisation and rock art, emphasising that carvers cannot be separated from the social context of their time. The volume approaches the topic by integrating social theory with digital technologies. It begins by drawing on role theory and the epistemological framework of behavioural archaeology to conceptualise how roles operate within chiefdom-like societies and how these roles can be inferred from the archaeological record. These theoretical models are then linked to the carvings through a quantitative analysis of four dimensions of variability: formal, spatial, quantitative, and associational. These analyses are supported by high-resolution 3D documentation of panels at Aspeberget (Tanum), legacy data from Bohuslän, and the application of univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical methods to identify patterns in the data. The results suggest that rock art in Bohuslän developed gradually and was deeply conservative because it was rooted in ancestral norms and traditions. These traditions influenced both the type of figures depicted and the placement of carvings in the landscape, typically near water and always on rocks with favourable geological properties. Such locations appear to have served at least two distinct purposes. Small panels spread across the region were likely associated with rituals surrounding the construction and launching of boats. Large and complex panels,