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Cova Eirós (Galicia, Spain): The 'Finisterre' of Paleolithic cave art
Abstract
Our knowledge about Paleolithic art has been changing substantially and new discoveries and dates are modifying some traditionally accepted considerations. In this context, the geographic spread and the end of this graphic-artistic cycle are two of the main topics of the current scientific debate. The discovery and study of rock art in Cova Eirós, located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, whose walls display geometric / stylized animals with linear interior fills, widens the territory of Paleolithic rock art in North Iberia beyond the traditional Franco-Cantabrian core. This find is framed in the successive discoveries made in the last 20 years that break with the perception of the Franco-Cantabrian region as being the core of the Paleolithic art. Moreover, the formal and stylistic features of some motifs from Cova Eirós allow to ascribe them to the final stages of the Paleolithic-style portable and rock art, classified as Style V or fini-Paleolithic; a pan-European tradition that began ~ 12,000-11,500 BP and lasted up to ~9,500-9,000 BP, in correspondence with the last hunter-gatherer groups.
... Los análisis radiocarbónicos efectuados sobre muestras de carbón procedentes de los motivos pintados CEPIII-P1 y CEPIII-P4 del panel III de Cova Eirós dieron como resultado una cronología estimada en torno al 9700-8600 cal BP, que debe tomarse como mínima debido a la documentada presencia de contaminación de época medieval sobre las pinturas (Steelman et al., 2017) (Fig. 2). La superposición del motivo CEPI- II-P1 sobre el grabado CEPIII-G1 nos proporciona una cronología mínima para este último que, junto con otras representaciones de la cavidad, muestra características estilísticas que indican su adscripción a momentos terminales del Paleolítico (Figueiredo-Persson et al., 2024;García-Díez et al., 2021;Steelman et al., 2017), lo que Roussot definió como Estilo V (Roussot, 1990) y denominado por otros autores como arte finipaleolítico (Beltrán, 1987), post-magdaleniense (Lorblanchet, 1989, epipaleolítico (Guy, 1993) y aziliense figurativo (D´Errico, 1994). Esta fase, representada en diversos sitios peninsulares (Bueno et al., 2007(Bueno et al., , 2009Bueno y Balbín, 2021), incluye algunas de las estaciones del NE de Portugal (Bueno et al., 2022). ...
... En Cova Eirós (CE) se seleccionó un conjunto de 7 representaciones zoomorfas con características atribuibles a esta fase. Entre estas se incluyó el motivo anteriormente mencionado (CEPIII_G1), así como diversas figuras cuyos trazos morfo-estilísticos permiten su adscripción al arte de las últimas sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras (García-Díez et al., 2021;Steelman et al., 2017). En el valle del Côa, las plaquetas de Fariseu (Fr), recuperadas en un contexto estratigráfico bien datado y adscrito a finales del Dryas I e inicios del Preboreal, son esenciales para el establecimiento de las cronologías y definiciones de las fases gráficas rupestres de este núcleo (Bueno y Balbín, 2016; García y Aubry, 2002;Santos et al., 2018). ...
La consideración del Noroeste peninsular como un territorio marginal respecto de la distribución del arte paleolítico ha cambiado en los últimos tres decenios tras el hallazgo de diversas manifestaciones gráficas en soportes muebles o rupestres -tanto en ambientes cavernarios como al aire libre-. Algunas de las evidencias descubiertas se pueden adscribir a momentos terminales del Paleolítico, encuadrándose entre el Allerød y el Preboreal. Con el fin de profundizar en el conocimiento de este estadio gráfico, se estudia un conjunto de figuras zoomorfas adscritas a ese período, localizadas en Cova Eirós y el valle del Côa. El análisis morfológico y técnico de las representaciones permite identificar paralelismos y particularidades que constatan la existencia de convenciones y recursos gráficos compartidos, al tiempo que aporta nuevos datos acerca de las características de este episodio gráfico y las relaciones entre estos territorios en el Paleolítico superior final.
... cal BP y CAMS162557: 10.108-8.389 cal BP) (Steelman et al. 2017;García-Díez et al. 2021). Al norte de la Cordillera Cantábrica también se encuentran paralelos cronológicos en una de las figuras de El Pindal (GifA-95539: 12.473-11.509 ...
En los últimos treinta años se ha documentado un notable incremento de manifestaciones artísticas paleolíticas en el interior de la península ibérica. Esto ha permitido llenar el vacío generado más allá de las tradicionales áreas de estudio del arte paleolítico peninsular. Si bien en los años 90 la atención se centró en el fenómeno parietal al aire libre, las excavaciones realizadas han aportado nuevos datos sobre el arte mobiliar. En este trabajo se presenta una síntesis de las evidencias mobiliares paleolíticas del interior peninsular con el objetivo de reconocer dinámicas culturales de los últimos cazadores-recolectores de la península. A partir de esta síntesis se propone una interpretación en clave diacrónica de su secuencia cronológica y se plantea como hipótesis la coexistencia de dos tradiciones gráficas diferenciadas en el interior peninsular, basada en la distribución geográfica de su simbolismo y en los ritmos de interacción gráfica identificables en su arte mobiliar. El resultado muestra una tendencia a la intensificación en las relaciones culturales a medida que el Paleolítico superior alcanza sus fases terminales.
... It has been intensively studied from the mid-70 s to practically the present (Díaz Rodríguez, 2017;Díaz Rodríguez and Carrero Pazos, 2019;Fernández Rodríguez et al., 1995;Llana Rodríguez et al., 1992;López Cordeiro, 2003;Ramil Rego et al., 2016;Ramil Rego and Ramil Soneira, 1992;Ramil Soneira and Vázquez Varela, 1976). Finally, there exists another area that has received much attention in recent years (García-Diez et al., 2021;Rey-Rodríguez et al., 2016;Steelman et al., 2017;Vaquero Rodríguez et al., 2018;2009): the Eastern mountain ranges (Fig. 1g), but whose density and dispersion of sites does not allow these places to be clustered and therefore this area is not expected to be one of the concentration areas for archaeological sites in this study. ...
The present paper aims to offer an evaluation of the cluster method analysis to settlement distribution of archaeological sites (k-means, DBSCAN, percolation analysis) and to show the potentiality of such methods on a regional scale. We analyse the distribution of Palaeolithic sites in Galician territory (NW Iberia) in order to identify the clustering areas and verify if these areas correspond with the traditional research zones. The results showed that the percolation analysis and, to a lesser extent, DBSCAN, worked best. We observe that the traditionally researched areas on the Galician Palaeolithic actually fit with the cluster pattern of points employing a 6–8 km threshold.
On the occasion of the review of the portable art of Grotta Romanelli, a decorated stone with a feline figure was object of an interdisciplinary study. The analysis considered different approaches so to: characterise the stratigraphic setting of the finding, the rock support, look into the techniques used to decorate the stone, elaborate a graphic documentation (photographs, 3D models and tracings), relate the symbolic production with the environmental context, and consider the motifs into the wider late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) art production.
The work allows confirming that the represented subject corresponds to a Panthera spelaea, and fixing some issues concerning the variability of the decorating activity, which is in line with the graphic tradition of the European LUP. Style and formal variable features of the figure might have responded to specific social conventions or to single author's skills, tracing new investigation lines about the cultural behaviour and the decorating activity: from the collection of the raw material and the preliminary modelling of the support, to the different artistic techniques (engraving and painting), from the use of the object to the definition of possible local artistic variations and/or inspiration at large scale. Moreover, it questions the thematic aspect in relation to the local fauna and its influence in the symbolic production, highlighting the importance of this stone in the wider debate about the extinction of the cave lions. Indeed, the Romanelli lion may represent the last evidence of this animal in Europe.
In this paper, we deal with the locational analysis of the Cova Eirós site (Triacastela, Lugo), occupied from the Middle Palaeolithic to the present. From GIS and statistics, we intend to approach those environmental factors that define its importance as a place of occupation over time and on a recurring basis. Once we have analysed the variables that characterize the site’s patterns of use, we have verified that Cova Eirós is an important, prominent and strategic point. The place is very close to the potential transit routes and has great visibility. It is also protected and set on a steep slope. Moreover, the site has hunting resources and raw materials sources nearby. So it is a settlement that presents ideal living conditions for hunter-gatherer groups.
The comprehensive study of spaces decorated during the Palaeolithic is able to obtain information about visits to the sites and their uses. However, it is essential to determine the temporal relationship between the different forms of archaeological evidence and not assume their synchronicity with the parietal art. Therefore, numerical dates are necessary. 14C-AMS dates for the art and other evidence in the Sala de las Pinturas in Ojo Guareña Cave have documented discontinuous human visits to the site from ~ 13,000 to ~ 1000 cal BP, in the course of at least five phases. This new information implies the observation and probably the use of the Palaeolithic art by farming communities after its creation by hunter-gatherers. The fact that decorated caves were used repeatedly adds a new dimension to the study of Palaeolithic art, which may have been reused in a time after it was produced, and underscores the need to date archaeological events to understand the degree of synchronicity and/or diachronicity of the human actions.
The site of Cova Eiros, located in a mountainous area in the interior of Galicia, has provided Middle and Upper Paleolithic well-dated archaeological materials. Presently 6 archaeological levels have been identified. The Middle Paleolithic levels have provided the largest amount of lithic and faunal remains. In this sense, in Cova Eirós we have recorded the Westernmost occupations by Neanderthal groups currently known in the Cantabrian Rim. Therefore, Cova Eiros is a key site for understanding the passage from the Middle Paleolithic to Upper Paleolithic in the NW Iberia.
Resumen: El yacimientos de Cova Eirós, situado en la región montañosa del interior de Galicia, ha proporcionado una interesante secuencia con materiales que abarcan el Paleolítico medio y Paleolítico superior. Hasta la fecha, han sido identificados seis niveles arqueológicos. Los niveles correspondientes al Paleolítico medio son los que presentan una mayor cantidad de materiales líticos y faunísticos. En este sentido, en Cova Eirós se registran las ocupaciones más occidentales de Neandertales de la región Cantábrica. Por todo ello, Cova Eirós es un yacimiento clave para entender la transición del Paleolítico medio al Paleolítico superior en el NW peninsular.
We present in this work the integral study of the portable art of Fariseu (Côa Valley). Eighty-five engraved pieces
and four painted ones form the studied collection. The chronological attribution to the Late Dryas/ beginning of
the Pre-boreal is perfectly assured by the stratigraphic origin of the pieces. The technical and stylistic attributes of
the figures are similar to some of the rock art of the Côa valley, making the collection an important chronological
referent to a vast number of engraved and painted panels of the region. Those technical and stylistic attributes are
also similar to others from Southwest Europe that are dated from the end of the Late glacial period, which denotes
the affiliation of this rock art facies in a graphic tradition of a broader geographic range.
The archaeological digs carried out in Cova Eirós (Triacastela, Lugo) since 2008 have brought to light
material culture from multiple chronologies. This paper deals with the analysis and interpretation
of the significant pottery finds from historical periods. Among these, Early and Middle Medieval
sherds are particularly numerous, together with a few fragments belonging to the Roman and Late
Antiquity periods. Most vessels can be ascribed to the NW Iberian medieval gray ware and we have
been able to identify morphologies previously unknown in the extant bibliography. Moreover, the
stratigraphic context of many sherds is rather informative, since they were recovered from pits that
have been C14 dated, therefore allowing associating those sherds with absolute dates. Thus, the
medieval occupations at Cova Eirós can be framed within the territorial changes that took place
between the 8th-11th centuries in NW Iberia and are the root of the traditional rural settlement of
Galicia.
Neandertal cave art
It has been suggested that Neandertals, as well as modern humans, may have painted caves. Hoffmann et al. used uranium-thorium dating of carbonate crusts to show that cave paintings from three different sites in Spain must be older than 64,000 years. These paintings are the oldest dated cave paintings in the world. Importantly, they predate the arrival of modern humans in Europe by at least 20,000 years, which suggests that they must be of Neandertal origin. The cave art comprises mainly red and black paintings and includes representations of various animals, linear signs, geometric shapes, hand stencils, and handprints. Thus, Neandertals possessed a much richer symbolic behavior than previously assumed.
Science , this issue p. 912
At Cova Eirós, we discovered 13 panels with paintings and engravings that stylistically point to the final moments of the Upper Paleolithic. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy were used to identify charcoal as black pigment. Although contamination from medieval fires inside the cave complicates the dating of these pictographs, analyses of unpainted rock backgrounds allowed calculation corrections for contaminated samples. We used plasma oxidation and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to directly radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) date two charcoal paintings—confirming that the images are more than 9000 yr old. As these paintings superimpose engravings, these ¹⁴ C dates also provide a minimum age for an engraving at Cova Eirós that is stylistically Final Magdalenian/Epipaleolithic. This is the first known evidence of Paleolithic cave art in Galicia of NW Iberia.
The development of the Azilian in Western Europe 14,000 years ago is considered a “revolution” in Upper Paleolithic Archaeology. One of the main elements of this rapid social restructuring is the abandonment of naturalistic figurative art on portable pieces or on cave walls in the Magdalenian in favor of abstract expression on small pebbles. Recent work shows that the transformation of human societies between the Magdalenian and the Azilian was more gradual. The discovery of a new Early Azilian site with decorated stones in France supports this hypothesis. While major changes in stone tool technology between the Magdalenian and Azilian clearly mark important adaptive changes, the discovery of 45 engraved schist tablets from archaeological layers at Le Rocher de l’Impératrice attests to iconographic continuity together with special valorization of aurochs as shown by a “shining” bull depiction. This evidence suggests that some cultural features such as iconography may lag far behind technological changes. We also argue that eventual change in symbolic expression, which includes the later disappearance of figurative art, provides new insight into the probable restructuring of the societies.
In this paper, I intend to show that the notion of an exchange network is much more useful than that of territory in the study of Paleolithic societies. The heuristic benefit of the notion of exchange network is demonstrated by its adaptability to different spatial scales, from local to regional and supra-regional, the last one being difficult to integrate in the traditional concept of territory.Models issued from the study of contemporary hunter-gatherers are easily applied to the European Upper Paleolithic. Interactions between groups should satisfy two contradictory requirements: each group needs to maintain its identity through specific markers, but on the other hand, it needs to communicate with neighbors and share with them material resources and cultural features such as beliefs and symbols. Hence the complex patterns that can be found in rock art and portable art, consisting in a mixture of strictly localized traits and other widely shared features. Exchange networks may be analyzed at different scales and their fluctuations over the course of time give us some access to the dynamics of Paleolithic human geography. In particular, I will evaluate this hypothesis using examples from the graphic images and forms of the Upper Paleolithic "arts".
The karstic cavities of NW Iberia allow an optimal preservation of the archaeological record which helps resolving those problems identified in the open-air sites. In this sense, the recovery of faunal remains, bone industry, hearths, etc. in the caves at the Eastern Ranges of NW Iberia give us much information about the cultural and social spheres of the Prehistoric societies. Several radiocarbon dates obtained in these archaeological contexts allow us to know the the changes in the use of the caves along Prehistoric and Historic times in NW Iberia.
The NW Iberia has often been described as a nearly empty space when
considering the Paleolithic settlement of the Iberian Peninsula. This fact has been
especially patent with respect to the Paleolithic art. The discovery at the end of the
XXth Century of the open-air Paleolithic rock art in the Côa Valley has abruptly
changed that perspective. The systematic research projects on the limestone
formations of Eastern Galicia and the intense archaeological surveys linked to the
hydroelectric projects of the northern tributaries of the Duero river have contributed
to finding new Paleolithic rock art and portable art evidences. The stylistic studies
point to a convergence with the observed trends in other Iberian regions like, for
instance, the high number of stations belonging to the late Upper Paleolithic and the
early Holocene.
We present the shelter of «Barranc del Gentisclar de l’Espigolar». It is located in the territory of the Serratella (Castellón), in the southern slope of the Serra d’en Galceran. The engraving motifs that contain are red
deers, «naviformes» and signs. The motifs are so similar to the conserved ones in sets from paleolithic aspect like the shelters of «Melià» and «Cova del Bovalar».
Also, in the same cavity there are Levantine and Schematic rock art paintings together the engravings. This paper is focus on the chronological sequence and relationship between the three styles of art, Engravings, Levantine paintings and Schematics motifs
Portable objects with figurave decoraon found at sites in the Iberian Peninsula (Hornosde la Peña, Salitre, El Casllo, Covalejos, Morín, Lumentxa, Antoliñako Koba, Les Mallaetesand El Parpalló) are presented and discussed. The stragraphic posion of each object isassessed, characterizing and, in some cases, discussing the nature of the decoraon. Theoldest figurave mobile art in the Iberian Peninsula can be aributed, based on the studyof the portable ensembles, to about ~31.5 ky cal BP. Its morpho‐stylisc characterizaonreveals a graphic construcon focusing on simple depicons in which the outlines of theanimals are given priority
At La Peña de Estebanvela, 43 portable art objects have been found in late Upper Palaeolithic levels. Most of the ensemble displays linear patterns forming complex signs. Three equids have also been identified. The decorative motifs at this site are presented and assessed in the context of the art of the last hunter-gatherer groups, demonstrating the existence of art in the last moments of the Palaeolithic (12 000 and 9500-9000 BP), after the time when Palaeolithic art is traditionally thought to have disappeared, at the end of the Magdalenian. A review at a European scale shows the existence of a common symbolism in the last stages of hunter-gatherer societies, which reflects social links.
References to the existence of historic remains in NW Iberian caves are frequent. However, archaeological research tends to focus on the search for evidence of older occupations, with little attention given to these historic levels. The aim of this article is to present the results of archaeobotanical analysis (charcoal analysis and carpology) from two caves in the eastern mountains of the province of Lugo – Cova do Xato and Cova Eirós – to determine the management of forest resources by the different communities living in them.
Archaeologists have long been puzzled by the appearance in Europe ∼40-35 thousand years (kyr) ago of a rich corpus of sophisticated artworks, including parietal art (that is, paintings, drawings and engravings on immobile rock surfaces) and portable art (for example, carved figurines), and the absence or scarcity of equivalent, well-dated evidence elsewhere, especially along early human migration routes in South Asia and the Far East, including Wallacea and Australia, where modern humans (Homo sapiens) were established by 50 kyr ago. Here, using uranium-series dating of coralloid speleothems directly associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros karsts of Sulawesi, we show that rock art traditions on this Indonesian island are at least compatible in age with the oldest European art. The earliest dated image from Maros, with a minimum age of 39.9 kyr, is now the oldest known hand stencil in the world. In addition, a painting of a babirusa ('pig-deer') made at least 35.4 kyr ago is among the earliest dated figurative depictions worldwide, if not the earliest one. Among the implications, it can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art by ∼40 kyr ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world.
The present work provides an overall interpretation of the La Peña de Estebanvela site, on the framework of the Magdalenian in central Spain. Studies of the geoarchaeological, chronostratigraphic, taxonomic, zooarchaeological, taphonomic, anthracological and phytological records allow the chronology of the site’s occupations to be determined. Sometimes even the seasonality of occupation can be established, and patterns of territory exploitation discerned. The results of technotypological, traceological and spatial analyses show a marked internal structuring of the site’s space, and provide clues on the possible functions of the site. Finally, the detailed examination of the site’s ornamental pieces and decorated stones shows the groups that used the rock shelter sometimes travelled great distances.
Se presenta la interpretación global de La Peña de Estebanvela (Ayllón, Segovia), en el contexto del Magdaleniense del centro de la Península Ibérica. Los estudios del registro (geoarqueológico, cronoestratigráfico, taxonómico, zooarqueológico y tafonómico, antracológico y fitolitólogico) permiten fijar la cronología de sus ocupaciones, en algunos casos la estacionalidad e inferir un patrón recurrente de explotación del territorio. Otras analíticas (tecnotipológico, traceológico, espacial) identifican una marcada estructuración interna del espacio y facilitan una aproximación a las posibles funcionalidades del asentamiento. Finalmente del examen detallado del conjunto ornamental y los cantos decorados se deduce una movilidad de estos grupos en ocasiones a grandes distancias.
The IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon calibration curves have been revised utilizing newly available and updated data sets from 14C measurements on tree rings, plant macrofossils, speleothems, corals, and foraminifera. The calibration curves were derived from the data using the random walk model (RWM) used to generate IntCal09 and Marine09, which has been revised to account for additional uncertainties and error structures. The new curves were ratified at the 21st International Radiocarbon conference in July 2012 and are available as Supplemental Material at www.radiocarbon.org. The database can be accessed at http://intcal.qub.ac.uk/intcal13/. © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.
The documentation of some figures of hoofed in Siega Verde on panels of palaeolithic style and its stylistic references in the whole south of Europe, constitutes the starting point of the reflection on the presence of style v in the outdoors sites of the peninsular occident. In the Douro's region exists a richer documentation than the habitual in Europe: the outdoors panels of Côa and Siega Verde, the engravings on palaeolithic figures of La Griega, the paintings with direct chronologies of Ojo Guareña, the decorated plaquettes of the level 4 of Fariseu and the pebbles and plaquettes of Estebanvela. Painting in the caverns, outdoors and cave engravings and mobile art, with good references of absolute chronology between 11,500 BP and 9000 BP that confirm the continuity of the Palaeolithic art. If we compare the data of the peninsular occident with those of the north, those of Levant and those that begin to be known in Andalusia, the coincidence of dates is astonishing. In the same way if we compare these ones with the dates of the South of France and Italy. The external art of the western facade of the Iberian Peninsula possesses not only a unite palaeolithic contrasted sequence but rather it also puts in evidence the reality of the recurrent and continued locations in the whole sector during 30,000 years.Above the 11,000 BP, the transformations of the hunter groups begin to be evident in the whole south of Europe and the graphics demonstrate these changes, with a progressive transformation of contents and style that leads to a bigger schematization. The interesting cohabitation among naturalism and schematism that demonstrate the direct dates of C14, apparent a progressive transformation that discards radical ruptures between the social and graphic world of the palaeolithic hunters and their heirs.
Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue that the changing temporal and spatial distributions of mobile and parietal art in Paleolithic Europe are related aspects of a single evolutionary process: alternating selective pressures differentially favoring the expression of assertive and emblemic style over the 30–7 kyr BP interval. These pressures result from demographic and social change across the European subcontinent in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. We develop a model of cultural selection for symbolic behavior manifest as art that proceeds from and parallels natural selection in neo‐Darwinian evolutionary theory.
Nearly 200 rock art sites of Upper Paleolithic age are currently known on the Iberian Peninsula, in both caves and the open
air. Over half are still concentrated in Cantabrian Spain and they span the period between c. 30–11kya, but–tracking the
course of human demography in this geographically circumscribed region–many of the images were probably painted or engraved
during the Solutrean and, especially, Magdalenian. Dramatic discoveries and dating projects have significantly expanded the
Iberian rock art record both geographically and temporally in recent years, in close coincidence with the growth of contemporaneous
archeological evidence: cave art loci in Aragón and Levante attributable to the Solutrean and Magdalenian, many cave art sites
and a few open-air ones in Andalucía and Extremadura that are mostly Solutrean (in line with evidence of a major Last Glacial
Maximum human refugium in southern Spain), the spectacular Côa Valley open-air complex in northern Portugal (together with
a growing number of other such loci and one cave) that was probably created during the Gravettian-Magdalenian periods, and
a modest, but important increase in proven cave and open-air sites in the high, north-central interior of Spain that are probably
Solutrean and/or Magdalenian. Despite regional variations in decorated surfaces, themes, techniques and styles, there are
broad (and sometimes very specific) pan-Iberian similarities (as well as ones with the Upper Paleolithic art of southern France)
that are indicative of widespread human contacts and shared systems of symbols and beliefs during the late Last Glacial. As
this Ice Age world and the forms of social relationships and ideologies that helped human groups survive in it came to an
end, so too did the decoration of caves, rockshelters and outcrops, although in some regions other styles of rock art would
return under very different conditions of human existence.
KEY WORDSUpper Paleolithic-rock art-Spain-Portugal
Dating Cave Paintings
A number of caves in Europe contain exquisite ancient art. Most of the art has been thought to be produced during the time of last glaciation by recently arrived modern humans, but dating of the art has been problematic because the art contains only minimal amounts of carbon for radiocarbon dating. Pike et al. (p. 1409 ; see the cover; see the Perspective by Hellstrom ) have now obtained U-series dates on the calcite crusts that formed over the art from 11 caves in northwestern Spain. The ages from three caves are older than 35,000 years ago, and one dates to nearly 41,000 years ago. The earliest art used primarily red and was relatively formless; animal depictions appeared later. This dating is near the time of the arrival of modern humans and, because Neandertals were also present, complicates identifying the artists.
The dating of four samples of black painting (coal) using the A.M.S. system gives the exact chronology and cultural context of the Hall of Painting of the Cave of Palomera (Ojo Guareña, Burgos, Spain). The parietal figures dated include, together with subjects of Paleolithic characteristics, another traditionally considered as «schematic style» (post-Paleolithic) and with characteristics peculiar to Schematic Painting. The five datings, however, offer great internal cohesion, situating all the samples at the end of the Late Glacial Interstage (Allerôd) or in the transition to the recent Dryas. Revision of the very homogeneous set of the figures and signs in the Hall of Paintings allowed us to define the context of these black paintings (Magdalo-Azilian or Ancient Azilian) and the characteristics of art the end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Epipaleolithic. La datación de cuatro muestras de pintura negra (carbón), efectuadas por el sistema A.M.S., permite precisar la cronología y el contexto cultural de la Sala de Las Pinturas de Cueva Palomera (Ojo Guareña, Burgos). Las figuras parietales datadas incluyen, junto a sujetos de características paleolíticas, otra tradicionalmente considerada de «estilo esquemático» (postpaleolítico) y de características propias de la Pintura Esquemática. Las cinco dataciones, sin embargo, ofrecen una gran coherencia interna, situando la totalidad de las muestras a finales del Interestadio Tardiglaciar (Allerôd) o en la transición al Dryas reciente. La revisión del conjunto, muy homogéneo, de las figuras y signos de la Sala de Las Pinturas, permite definir el contexto de estas pinturas negras (Magdaloaziliense o Aziliense antiguo), y las características del Arte a finales del Paleolítico y comienzos del Epipaleolítico.
The geographical distribution of Upper Palaeolithic cave art in Western Europe has changed throughout the
history of research. In addition to the initial nuclei that gave rise to “Franco-Cantabrian” art (Cantabria, Périgord
and Pyrenees), new regions with remarkable concentrations, such as the Rhône in France or Andalusia and the
Iberian Plateau in Spain and Portugal, have now appeared. This new reality favouring the emergence of other
territories is probably the reason for certain lack of attention to the classic regions in the last two decades.
However, since the beginning of the 21st century new discoveries especially on the Cantabrian side of the
Pyrenees (Atxurra, Armintxe, Aitzbitarte IV, etc.) but also in the Périgord (Cussac), together with the revision of
the Pyrenean “great sanctuaries” (Tuc d'Audoubert, Trois-Frères, Marsoulas, etc.) and large collections of portable
art, have forced a reformulation of artistic interactions between these territories around the Bay of Biscay,
during the whole Upper Palaeolithic.
The timing and nature of the emergence of art in human evolution has been one of the more debated subjects in palaeoanthropology in the last few years, and one of the areas where archaeology has made impressive advances. Here, we discuss the first evidence of figurative art on portable materials in the north of Spain. After analysis of the stratigraphic contexts of all examples potentially of this age, which eliminated those of uncertain provenance, only three examples can be said to be Gravettian with a degree of confidence. We examine their stratigraphic provenance, the integrity of their archaeological contexts, and the absolute dates available for them. We then discuss their thematic and stylistic traits, comparing them to the wider database of material in the adjacent regions of the French Pyrenees and Mediterranean Iberia. We conclude that figurative depictions were scarce in the Gravettian of south-western Europe, in contrast to the relatively abundant examples of cave art assigned to this period in the region. If this is correct, we should nuance our discussions of ‘Palaeolithic art’ by considering that parietal and portable art had their own trajectories and functions, at least in the Early to mid-Upper Palaeolithic.
The legacy of specialists in Upper Paleolithic art shows a common point: a more or less clear separation between Magdalenian art and earlier symbolic manifestations. One of principal difficulty is due to little data firmly dated in the chronology for the “ancient” periods, even if recent studies precise chronological framework.
There is a variability of the symbolic traditions from the advent of monumental art in Europe, and there are graphic elements crossing regional limits and asking the question of real symbolic territories existence. The different thematic choices also allows to raise territorial kinships between various caves and various regions.
The object of this paper is to define where these rich and varied symbolic records appear, and how graphic traditions are distributed in the Western European Paleolithic area, throughout these 15 000 years. To provide some elements of response to this question, we will draw on the one hand, on the formal approaches in the figures, and on the other - on the thematic range used by Paleolithics.
Dans ce travail nous étudions les continuités et les changements qui marquent le passage du Magdalénien final vers l’Épipaléolithique dans le NE ibérique. Nous allons caractériser l’« Épimagdalénien » en s’appuyant sur l’analyse de huit gisements et sur l’étude des industries lithiques, sur l’économie et sur les objets d’art mobilier. En s’appuyant sur un corpus de datations récentes, dont certaines sont inédites, nous proposons de dater l’art mobilier de Sant Gregori et de renforcer l’idée que l’Épimagdalenien se développerait entre 13 700 et 11 500 cal BP (soit 11 800–10 000 BP).
L’étude des convergences et des divergences graphiques dans l’art Paléolithique est utilisée pour comprendre la culture, les territoires et les systèmes d’interaction des groupes humains. L’ensemble rupestre de la grotte de La Covaciella contient quinze représentations d’animaux et d’autres motifs linéaires, géométriques et des points. La présence de représentations de bison est remarquable. Certains sont exécutés avec des procédés techniques très complexes. Deux d’entre eux ont été datés par la méthode du C¹⁴AMS et deux dates ont été obtenues : 14 260 ± 130 BP (17 733–16 973 cal BP) et 14 060 ± 140 BP (17 503–16 260 cal BP). Chronologiquement, ces résultats correspondent au début du Magdalénien moyen ou à la fin du Magdalénien inférieur. D’autres figures similaires à celles des bisons de La Covaciella ont été retrouvées dans d’autres sites d’Europe occidentale. Le nombre de bisons qui possèdent des ressemblances graphiques avec les deux morphotypes de bisons présents dans la cavité, pyrénéen (morphotype Niaux) et périgourdin (morphotype Font-de-Gaume), est très élevé. Une première considération qui résulte de la recherche de comparaisons suppose une nouvelle interprétation de la valeur territoriale qui implique le terme « style Pyrénéen » (Asturies, Cantabrie, Pays Basque, Navarre, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Ariège, Dordogne, Lot, Ardèche et Vienne). Le morphotype pariétal Font-de-Gaume est le plus commun en Dordogne. En outre, dans quelques cas, il existe une complémentarité spatiale entre les deux morphotypes graphiques. Cet article propose différentes hypothèses chronologiques et anthropologiques pour expliquer la distribution et la coexistence des deux modèles graphiques.
If radiocarbon measurements are to be used at all for chronological purposes, we have to use statistical methods for calibration. The most widely used method of calibration can be seen as a simple application of Bayesian statistics, which uses both the information from the new measurement and information from the 14 C calibration curve. In most dating applications, however, we have larger numbers of 14 C measurements and we wish to relate those to events in the past. Bayesian statistics provides a coherent framework in which such analysis can be performed and is becoming a core element in many 14 C dating projects. This article gives an overview of the main model components used in chronological analysis, their mathematical formulation, and examples of how such analyses can be performed using the latest version of the OxCal software (v4). Many such models can be put together, in a modular fashion, from simple elements, with defined constraints and groupings. In other cases, the commonly used “uniform phase” models might not be appropriate, and ramped, exponential, or normal distributions of events might be more useful. When considering analyses of these kinds, it is useful to be able run simulations on synthetic data. Methods for performing such tests are discussed here along with other methods of diagnosing possible problems with statistical models of this kind.
U-series dating is a precise and accurate geochronological tool which is widely applied to date secondary CaCO3 formation, for example in speleothem based palaeoclimate research. It can also be employed to provide chronological constraints for archaeological sites which have a stratigraphic relationship with speleothem formations. We present in detail our methods to conduct precise and accurate U-Th dating of calcite crusts that formed on top of cave paintings. Our protocols allow the application of U-series measurements on small, thin calcite crusts covering cave art, which can be found in many sites, while taking care not to harm the art underneath. The method provides minimum ages for the covered art and, where possible, also maximum ages by dating the flowstone layer the art is painted on. We present dating results for crusts from two locality types in Spain, a typical cave environment (La Pasiega) and a more open, rock shelter type cave (Fuente del Trucho).
Evidence of grand burials and monumental construction is a striking feature in the archaeological record of the Upper Palaeolithic period, between 40 and 10 kya (thousand years ago). Archaeologists often interpret such finds as indicators of rank and hierarchy among Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Interpretations of this kind are difficult to reconcile with the view, still common in sociobiology, that pre-agricultural societies were typically egalitarian in orientation. Here we develop an alternative model of 'Palaeolithic politics', which emphasizes the ability of hunter-gatherers to alternate - consciously and deliberately - between contrasting modes of political organization, including a variety of hierarchical and egalitarian possibilities. We propose that alternations of this sort were an emergent property of human societies in the highly seasonal environments of the last Ice Age. We further consider some implications of the model for received concepts of social evolution, with particular attention to the distinction between 'simple' and 'complex' hunter-gatherers.
Long doubted, the existence of Pleistocene rock art in North Africa is here proven through the dating of petroglyph panels displaying aurochs and other animals at Qurta in the Upper Egyptian Nile Valley The method used was optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) applied to deposits of wind-blown sediment covering the images.This gave a minimum age of ∼15 000 calendar years making the rock engravings at Qurta the oldest so far found in North Africa.
The last two decades have witnessed considerable advances in chronometric approaches to cave art, specifically with the application of new dating techniques (AMS 14C, U-series, Thermoluminescence). In this paper we assess all the currently available chronological information (numerical dates, stylistic comparisons between portable and cave art, the immediate context of art and its relationship with archaeological strata and wider artistic styles) pertaining to cave art of the western Pyrenean and eastern Cantabrian regions, in order to summarize the evolution of art in this important area. The data allow only an imprecise definition of a broad chronological framework for the area of study: at present we cannot define precisely the origins of figurative cave art in the area; the earliest (Pre-Magdalenian) cycle is characterized by basic figures in which, frequently, only the outline is represented. By contrast, in the later (Magdalenian) cycle the figures are naturalistic and realistically composed. The critical analysis of available chronological information is necessary in order for us to advance towards the construction of more solid and less subjective frameworks for the development of art.
Les temoignages figuratifs epipaleolithiques font actuellement l'objet d'un debat : style a l'originalite profonde ou au contraire, prolongement decadent de l'art du Magdalenien superieur ou final. Nous avons souhaite apporter a ce debat l'eclairage particulier que confere une analyse approfondie des modes de representation afin de mesurer le degre de parente entre ces deux productions figuratives et de reveler ainsi leur eventuelle diversite de conception. Apres une premiere observation du corpus figuratif post-magdalenien, certaines configurations a la fois particulieres et recurrentes ont ete retenues. Puis, afin de verifier si ces composantes caracteristiques avaient des precedents dans l'expression figurative du Magdalenien superieur ou final nous les avons comparees avec les formes les plus approchantes parmi les oeuvres magdaleniennes, analysant leurs differences comme leurs convergences. Les conclusions que l'on peut tirer de ce travail comparatif plaident pour l'existence d'une identite artistique epipaleolithique particuliere et distincte de la tradition magdalenienne.
The Upper Paleolithic of Catalonia has been so far characterized by a very weak presence of artistic representations. This scarcity was especially surprising if we take into account the huge number of discoveries from other zones of the Iberian Peninsula (Valencia, the Cantabrian region). In this paper we present four objects of portable art found at the Molí del Salt site (Vimbodí, Conca de Barberà, Tarragona). Below a mesolithic layer, dated to 8 ka BP, there is an Upper Magdalenian sequence with several dates between 10.8 and 12.5 ka BP. These magdalenian levels have yielded four plaques of schist with engravings, including several animal figurines and one human representations. Once the objects are described, we will place them in the context of the portable art from the Late Upper Paleolithic of Mediterranean Spain. From these data, the chronocultural successions based on the Upper Magdalenian–Microlaminar Epipaleolithic distinction will be discussed.
A apresentação deste artigo tem como objectivo fazer uma reflexão sobre os caracteres formais e técnicos das grafias de estilo paleolítico existentes na gruta do Escoural, enquadrar, brevemente, as obras dentro do contexto gráfico português, mostrar uma série de apreciações sobre a conservação da gruta e suas manifestações e propor futuras linhas de investigação susceptíveis de empreender em estudos posteriores
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