Iñaki Intxaurbe Alberdi

Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea | UPV/EHU · Geology

The caves represent a hostile environment for human life, given the complete darkness, humidity and generally irregular topography. However, human populations have frequented these underground landscapes since at least the Middle Paleolithic, and particularly during the Upper Paleolithic and Prehistoric and later Historical phases. Therefore, studies on the archaeological context in caves are really useful, as they help to decode the behaviour and capabilities of paleolithic humans. The objective of this project is to objectively, accurately and quantitatively analyze the appropriation and exploration of the endokarst by paleolithic human groups, based on the detailed geomorphological study of several decorated caves in the Upper Palaeolithic and the use of digital tools, like geographic information systems. For this, the geomorphology and the karst evolution of various decorated caves will be studied, identifying and pointing out the processes and modifications that occurred in the endokarst, as well as its stratigraphic chronology, and as far as possible, direct. In addition to relating these erosion and sedimentation processes to external paleoenvironmental changes, there will be special interest in learning as accurately as possible about the disposition and morphology of the cavity during the period of its use during the Upper Palaeolithic (MIS 2-3). This specific objective will allow a precise approach to the following specific objectives, considering the parietal art and the archaeological remains that may have deteriorated, disappeared or moved, in order to know whether or not we are facing a biased vision of the underground prehistoric landscape, and if so, what degree of modification can it have. On the other hand, new digital methodologies will be developed and applied to study the role played by endokarstic geomorphology in a specific problem such as the exploration and appropriation of the underground environment by the Upper Palaeolithic societies. Using digital and 3D technology, spatial studies will be undertaken (accessibility, visibility and capacity) of several caves decorated with paleolithic art, to try to identify common patterns in the selection of decorated spaces using analytical statistics, as well as helping to measure the cost and effort invested in these settings.

The parietal graphic production is perhaps the most impressive of all the activities developed by hunter-gatherer groups during the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. The artistic value of this phenomenon has been recognized worldwide by UNESCO, with the Declaration of World Heritagefor some of them. Archaeological analysis of graphic production potentially exceeds the artistic creation itself. It supposes the existence of a normative that is subject to a social control code that could serve as an element of cohesion or reaffirmation for human groups (Garate, 2007a). In this way, the dedication of human and material resources destined for symbolic production is an aspect that can and should be treated and evaluated, starting from the global perspective of study that we advocate. This media investment reflects the degree of importance that could correspond to this activity in the organisation of different Palaeolithic societies. Moreover, the social structure can be characterised in broad terms (complexity, egalitarianism, property, etc.) in response to observations derived from the global study of symbolic production (specialisation, privatisation, media investment, etc.). There is no doubt that the anthropisation of caves with Palaeolithic graphic manifestations goes beyond the realisation of them, also covering them with very diverse actions – voluntary or fortuitous – such as the thermal alteration of karstic surfaces, making impressions with anatomical parts or objects, geomorphological transformations of the natural space, extraction of raw materials, and the deposition of diverse nature materials. Each of these actions materialises in the different archaeological remains registered in these sites. Interdisciplinary study of these traces of human activity provides a wide range of information, including: when prehistoric societies entered caves (e.g. radiometric dating of charcoal and bone); the fuel used for lighting (e.g. anthracological studies of charcoal); the height and intensity reached by the flames (e.g. TL analysis of burnt surfaces; the sex, age, pathologies or even the genome of the authors of the works (anthropological study of human remains); the number of people who entered the cave (ichnological study of human footprints); human alteration of karstic features (e.g. geomorphological study); and what materials were carried into the interior of caves and what they were used for (e.g. use-wear analysis of lithic artefacts). All these data provide a complex scenario of Palaeolithic activities in the depths of caves, far wider than those traditionally described. Using this in-depth methodological approach, this exhaustive study will allow us to deepen considerably our knowledge of these past societies. As we propose in this project, through the study of the different operational chains that interfere with artistic creation (Garate, 2016), we can establish the economic value and the degree of complexity derived from symbolic actions (Fiore, 2007). In this way, we can reconstruct the material and the human efforts dedicated by Palaeolithic societies to symbolic activity inside the caves. Ultimately, this research is about assessing the social importance of these activities, as a determining factor in order to understand and interpret their meaning.

A lo largo de los dos últimos años, un grupo de arqueólogos e investigadores miembros de distintas universidades españolas como la Universidad de Salamanca (USAL), la Universidad de Cantabria (UC) o la Universidad del País Vasco (UPV) han desarrollado un proyecto de revisión del conjunto de arte paleolítico de la cueva de El Salitre a partir de la aplicación de nuevas metodologías de análisis y documentación. La aplicación de metodologías actualizadas de prospección y documentación durante los trabajos desarrollados en la cueva de El Salitre han permitido obtener un conocimiento más preciso del dispositivo gráfico y superar las lagunas existentes. El inventario de manifestaciones gráficas se ha visto ampliado gracias a la localización de nuevas evidencias, principalmente manchas y puntuaciones. Además, se ha precisado la lectura e identificación de algunos motivos y se ha planteado una construcción del panel principal más compleja en la que se han identificado dos fases de ejecución. Por otro lado, se aporta la primera lectura precisa de los motivos en negro localizados en el Sector C de la cavidad, hasta la fecha solo documentados mediante fotografía.