Pages:  63-89 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp2526389

Some of Peterborough petroglyphs in Ontario, Canada resemble Bronze Age Scandinavian petroglyphs. It turns out that the similarities are too specific to be explained by parallel development because of some common conceptions or to be attributed to circumpolar diffusion of rock art, and that the involvement of Scandinavian parallels clarifies some aspects of the North American images that remained obscure. It is essential that striking similarities are found in the depiction of ships, sacred symbols, and supernatural characters at the same time. Systematic consideration of Peterborough petroglyphs hardly leaves any possibility of doubting the reality of the influence of the Scandinavian tradition on them. This influence is most naturally associated with the appearance in North America of some people from Scandinavia. The recent research has turned this possibility from hard to imagine into a plausible one. It has been found that an important source of metals for Bronze Age Scandinavia was Sardinia and the Iberian Peninsula, and that the appearance of the ships on which the Sea Peoples attacked Egypt goes back to Scandinavian prototypes. It has also been shown that there is good reason to postulate an early acquaintance of the Scandinavians with sailing and even the ability to maneuver against the wind. All this implies both a high level of seamanship and familiarity with the waters of the Atlantic.

Keywords: rock art, Peterborough petroglyphs, Bronze Age Scandinavia, Pre-Columbian transoceanic contacts

Information about author:

Dmitri Panchenko (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Saint Petersburg State University. Universitetskaya Emb., 7―9, Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation; St. Petersburg Branch of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Soyuz Pechatnikov St., 16, Saint Petersburg, 190121, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Scopus Author ID: 56017568900