Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings
Neolithic–Bronze Age (4000–1000 BCE)·Comb Ceramic / Pit-Comb Ware hunter-gatherers·🇫🇮 Southern Savonia, Finland
About
About Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings
Finland's largest and best-known rock painting site on a sheer granite cliff above Lake Yövesi, part of Lake Saimaa. Red ochre figures (4000–2200 BCE) depict 18+ elks, 20 human figures, boats and handprints across 50 m of cliff, including a distinctive woman with bow. Painted from boats at lake level by Comb Ware hunter-gatherers, the site illustrates northern hunter-fisher cosmology and shamanism, accessible only by boat in summer.
Why it mattersKey Comb Ceramic / Pit-Comb Ware hunter-gatherers site in Southern Savonia.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Meaning of motifs and shamanic interpretation
- 02Dating of carvings via shoreline displacement
Theories
- 01Ritual gathering place with seasonal aggregation
- 02Cosmological map of surrounding landscape
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 4000–2200 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic–Bronze Age (4000–1000 BCE)
- Culture
- Comb Ceramic / Pit-Comb Ware hunter-gatherers
- Purpose
- Shamanic rock art on lake cliff
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 4000–2200 BCE
Initial construction and primary use
20th century
Modern archaeological investigation and conservation
On the ground
Structures & features
61.4270° N · 27.5380° E · 85 m · 2 mapped features
- Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings Main ChamberstructurePrincipal rock-art feature at Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings, well-preserved structure with diagnostic finds61.4275° N · 27.5385° E
- Astuvansalmi Rock Paintings Secondary FeaturestructureSecondary rock-art element illustrating site complexity and reuse61.4266° N · 27.5388° E
Gallery