Trade and Rock Art Traditions: Prehistoric Paths Between Italy and Northern Europe in Bronze Age

This thesis establishes rock art as a potential sign of interregional communication and involvement by examining the cultural and economic exchanges between Scandinavia and the Italian Alps during the Bronze Age. Between 1500 and 1100 BCE, copper imports from South Tyrol and the trade of valuable goods like metal and amber demonstrate a well-established network linking Scandinavia and the Italian Alps. Numerous resources are highlighted by research on copper sources, demonstrating the wide distribution pathways that delivered metal to Scandinavia and promoted standard material practices throughout these areas. Through rock art, this research investigates how standard practices and cultural connections were expressed in both regions' iconographic expressions. This thesis provides a nuanced understanding of cross-regional exchange dynamics by placing this analysis within theoretical frameworks, such as Kaul's idea of xenia, or guest-friendship, promoting inland trade, and Kristiansen's view of the Italian Terramare culture as a Mediterranean trade connection. The findings reveal how centuries of trade and interpersonal relationships fostered a cultural koiné, observable in rock art motifs from Val Camonica, Italy, and Scandinavia, which reflect sustained interactions and shared cultural expressions from the third to the first millennium BCE.