ABSTRACT
Motifs in hunters’ rock art reflect a state of the human relationship with the animal world. The category ‘hunters’ rock art’ is, however, internally different; why do some contexts display only the outlines of animals, whereas others cultivate the decoration of the animal’s inner parts? This chapter will address how rock art reveals the varieties within the Mesolithic societies’ world views. More specifically, this concerns humanity’s perceptions and conceptions of nature, and nature as a factor of Mesolithic peoples’ self-understanding. Initially this issue will be discussed exclusively with regard to the empirical facts established this far. Further on, I will take up the current anthropological understanding of animism and totemism, and pursue what could be a relevant understanding of these concepts in the context of Scandinavian Mesolithic rock art.
