Evaluating Aurignacian Art in Iberia... if it Really Exists

Abstract

Recent discoveries over the past years have confirmed the existence of figurative art from the very beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Researchers have focused on the identification of this phenomenon in some regions (Dordogne, Ardeche or Swabian Jura), whereas others, such as the Iberian Peninsula, have been somewhat neglected. After a thorough analysis of the Iberian artistic record, we are now in a position to characterize the early stages of figurative art (both portable and rock art), which was mainly concentrated in the northern region of the Iberian Peninsula. This concentration corresponds to the dense distribution of archeological sites attributed to the Aurignacian culture. Although the existing literature is at times incomplete or somewhat inconclusive, we consider an attribution to Aurignacian art to be possible in certain cases.