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.