Abstract
The south of Iberia conserves an important group of Palaeolithic rock art sites. The graphisms have been mostly attributed to the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods, while the possibility that older remains exist has provoked extensive debate. This circumstance has been linked to both the cited periods, until recently, due to the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic in the extreme southwest of Europe as well as the non-existence of some of the early periods of Palaeolithic art documented in northern Iberia. This study presents the results of interdisciplinary research conducted in Las Ventanas Cave. These results enabled us to identify a new Palaeolithic rock art site. The technical, stylistic and temporal traits point to certain similarities with the range of exterior deep engravings in Cantabrian Palaeolithic rock art. Ventanas appears to corroborate the age attributed to those kinds of graphic expression and points to the early arrival of the Upper Palaeolithic in the south of Iberia. Importantly, the results provide information on the pre-Solutrean date attributed to trilinear hind figures. These findings challenge the supposed Neanderthal survival idea at one of the main late Middle Palaeolithic southern Iberian sites (Carigüela) and, due to the parallels between them and an engraving attributed to this period in Gibraltar, it raises the possibility of interaction between modern humans and Neanderthals in the extreme southwest of Europe.
Highlights
The south of the Iberian Peninsula is, together with the Cantabrian Region and southern France, one of the areas with the largest number of caves with Palaeolithic rock art in the southwest of Europe
In the south of Iberia, historiography of the chronocultural Upper Pleistocene sequence generally, until recently, involved a lengthy Middle Palaeolithic (MP) and the very late arrival of the technocomplexes of the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) to this region [11]. The impact of this model on the Palaeolithic art in this geographic area ensured that all the graphic images were attributed generally to the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods [12]
The appearance of EUP levels at various sites [11, 13,14,15,16] and the reassessment of some art manifestations in various caves (e.g. Ardales, La Pileta, etc.) have enabled us to reconsider the existence of horizons attributable to this period in southernmost Iberia [17,18,19,20,21,22]
Summary
The south of the Iberian Peninsula is, together with the Cantabrian Region (northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula) and southern France, one of the areas with the largest number of caves with Palaeolithic rock art in the southwest of Europe In these latter two, the graphic sequence seems to have begun earlier, spanning the entire development of the Upper Palaeolithic (UP) [1,2,3,4,5]. In the south of Iberia, historiography of the chronocultural Upper Pleistocene sequence generally, until recently, involved a lengthy Middle Palaeolithic (MP) and the very late arrival of the technocomplexes of the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) to this region [11] The impact of this model on the Palaeolithic art in this geographic area ensured that all the graphic images were attributed generally to the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods [12]. The appearance of EUP levels at various sites [11, 13,14,15,16] and the reassessment of some art manifestations in various caves (e.g. Ardales, La Pileta, etc.) have enabled us to reconsider the existence of horizons attributable to this period in southernmost Iberia [17,18,19,20,21,22]
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