”Mannen” i bronsåldersbilden. Genusteoretiska perspektiv på hällristningar: möjligheter och begränsningar i en arkeologisk genusstudie på Norrköpings ristade människofigurer

Abstract

In this thesis I attempt to analyse four adjacent rock art sites in the western area of Norrköping, Östergötland, Sweden. This area is heavily researched, but I found that the research lacked in gendered perspectives. Therefore, this thesis’ main goal has been to study aforementioned sites’ depictions of human (anthropomorphic) motifs in the effort of studying depictions of sex and gender in the rock art. The analysis covers a) archaeological methods of gendering the past, b) possibilities and limitations in applying a gendered perspective on rock art depictions, and c) a case study focusing on rock art in Norrköping. I found that gendered depictions are quite rare in overall rock art, and that the act of gendering depends on both context and archaeological interpretation.