Palaeolithic Cave Art Research Articles

Characterizing the chemical composition of red coloring matter samples from the Altamira cave using synchrotron µXRF imaging

The chemical in situ study of red coloring matter from Paleolithic cave art is challenging because the same trace elements can be present both in the matter and in the calcitic support, and the two present a heterogeneous composition. In this study, thirteen red iron oxide-based coloring matter samples obtained at drip points coming from eight locations within the Techo de los Polícromos, Altamira cave (Spain), have been analyzed by highly sensitive synchrotron-induced micro-X-ray fluorescence (SR-µXRF). Our analyses improved the characterization of red Paleolithic pigments by establishing characteristic trace element patterns, additionally facilitating a comparison of the distinct representations within the cave. Furthermore, new differentiation criteria between the composition of the calcitic walls and that of the red coloring matter could be established, helping to improve future non-invasive analyses.

The presence of the past: temporality, ontology, and the prehistory of performance

ABSTRACT While the ontology of performance remains contested between mandates of essential disappearance and essential persistence, the theories of performance’s temporality remain underdeveloped. This paper utilizes a limit-case of performance criticism—Paleolithic cave art—as a means of examining alternative temporalities and ontologies of performance made possible through new materialist and posthumanist frameworks.

Space Analysis in Palaeolithic Cave Art: Towards a Multidisciplinary and Integrated Approach

We present a revision of the concept of space in Palaeolithic cave art. Previous research attempting to approach this notion encounters several gaps, which surface on multiple levels: subjectivity, vagueness, restrictions on its conceptualisation, its illustration (two-dimensional description and representation), among others. We reassess the key elements at play, interpretative attempts, and theoretical concepts to gain a better understanding of the notion of space as applied to cave art. This is achieved by examining the historiography not only in prehistory but also in related disciplines, integrating new theoretical approaches and insights from ethnoarchaeology, linguistics, cognitive science, and analytic philosophy. Following this analysis of the existing research, we propose a new method to address the aforementioned issues. This method relies on digital quantitative tools for spatial analysis and three-dimensional representation, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and 3D visualisation. Through the application of these advanced technological tools, we aim to offer a more comprehensive and precise representation of the spatial aspects in Palaeolithic cave art, enabling researchers to analyse and comprehend the complexities of spatial distribution in a systematic and quantitative manner.

Paleolithic cave art at Simanya Gran (Northeast of Spain): New graphic and symbolic expressions in novel territories

Recent years have witnessed significant advancement in the understanding of prehistoric behavior, leading to the discovery of new assemblages that challenge established knowledge within the discipline. This study presents a newly discovered Paleolithic art site in the northeast region of the Iberian Peninsula, specifically within the Simanya Gran cave complex. Excavations conducted since 2019 have revealed Neanderthal human remains and a complex litho-stratigraphic sequence dating back to the Middle Paleolithic, indicating human occupation spanning multiple periods. The documented graphic device (engravings and painting) exhibits thematic and formal characteristics comparable to Paleolithic art found in Spain and France. Through stylistic and contextual analysis, the paper proposes a tentative chronology for the graphic evidence, situating it within the mid-late Magdalenian period. Furthermore, the study explores the concept of graphic territories, suggesting that the distribution of similar graphic motifs across distant regions reflects intense socio-cultural interactions among prehistoric human groups. The significance of this discovery extends beyond its immediate geographic location, contributing to a broader understanding of Paleolithic art in the Mediterranean region and highlighting the importance of continued research in this field.

‘Making-remote’ as an Alternative to Realism in Late Palaeolithic Cave Art: Representations of the Human at the Threshold of Appearance

Abstract I initiate the concept of ‘making-remote’ to capture various strategies for representing the human in late Palaeolithic cave art. Drawing out the role of remoteness within phenomenological accounts of perception (Husserl and Merleau-Ponty), as well as offering an analysis of a wide range of archaeological evidence, I argue that realism does not capture the specificity of these human representations. In contrast to naturalistic animal representations, humans are consistently represented with a high degree of abstraction e.g. schematisation and abbreviation. I also argue for a site-specific distinction between deep caves and rock-shelters. Following Bourdier (2010) and Pinçon (2012), art at sites such as Roc-aux-Sorciers is best understood as stylised ‘public art’. Meanwhile, the highly expressive and realist art of La Marche is domestic in contrast to the exclusively symbolic art of deep caves. In conclusion I argue that ‘making-remote’ in cave art’s human representations exhibits complex relations to self and others.

Sztuka epoki paleolitu w świetle hipotezy mózgu społecznego

The purpose of this article is to try to look at the phenomenon of Paleolithic cave art differently – through the prism of the assumptions of the social brain hypothesis. This paper will present the main assumptions of Robin Dunbar’s social brain concept, which assumes that the increase in the size of the social group influenced the development of the individual (both biologically and socio-culturally). Larger communities provided the impetus for the development of new cognitive qualities, which provided the opportunity for art to emerge.

First discovery of charcoal-based prehistoric cave art in Dordogne

Archaeologists have long been puzzled by the exact age of Paleolithic cave art in Europe especially in the Franco-Cantabrian region with hundreds of decorated caves because the creation of this parietal art (paintings, drawings and engravings) is closely tied to the appearance of first modern humans in Europe and their ways of life. The Dordogne region, one of the richest regions in terms of Paleolithic cave art in the world with more than 200 cave sites, is currently known to provide figures of cave art solely made with mineral coloring matters that cannot be dated directly. Using in-situ non-invasive Raman spectroscopy combined with portable X-ray fluorescence analysis as well as visible and infrared imaging of the decor of the Font-de-Gaume cave, we show the presence of a large number of charcoal-based Paleolithic figures besides others made of iron and manganese oxides in the main galleries for the first time. The creation periods of the cave art at Font-de-Gaume are mainly attributed to the Magdalenian period and probably more complicated constituted of at least two creation phases than commonly established as shown by the direct or partial superimposition of carbon-based and iron- and/or manganese-based figures. Our new results contribute to a better understanding of the organisation of the ornamentation and thus of the imaginary language of our Prehistoric ancestors. The discovery opens new research possibilities for re-reading of the complex panels and absolute radiocarbon dating.

The deep past in the virtual present: developing an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding the psychological foundations of palaeolithic cave art

Virtual Reality (VR) has vast potential for developing systematic, interdisciplinary studies to understand ephemeral behaviours in the archaeological record, such as the emergence and development of visual culture. Upper Palaeolithic cave art forms the most robust record for investigating this and the methods of its production, themes, and temporal and spatial changes have been researched extensively, but without consensus over its functions or meanings. More compelling arguments draw from visual psychology and posit that the immersive, dark conditions of caves elicited particular psychological responses, resulting in the perception—and depiction—of animals on suggestive features of cave walls. Our research developed and piloted a novel VR experiment that allowed participants to perceive 3D models of cave walls, with the Palaeolithic art digitally removed, from El Castillo cave (Cantabria, Spain). Results indicate that modern participants’ visual attention corresponded to the same topographic features of cave walls utilised by Palaeolithic artists, and that they perceived such features as resembling animals. Although preliminary, our results support the hypothesis that pareidolia—a product of our cognitive evolution—was a key mechanism in Palaeolithic art making, and demonstrates the potential of interdisciplinary VR research for understanding the evolution of art, and demonstrate the potential efficacy of the methodology.

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)

The influence of pareidolia has often been anecdotally observed in examples of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, where topographic features of cave walls were incorporated into images. As part of a wider investigation into the visual psychology of the earliest known art, we explored three hypotheses relating to pareidolia in cases of Late Upper Palaeolithic art in Las Monedas and La Pasiega Caves (Cantabria, Spain). Deploying current research methods from visual psychology, our results support the notion that topography of cave walls played a strong role in the placement of figurative images—indicative of pareidolia influencing art making—although played a lesser role in determining whether the resulting images were relatively simple or complex. Our results also suggested that lighting conditions played little or no role in determining the form or placement of images, contrary to what has been previously assumed. We hypothesize that three ways of artist–cave interaction (‘conversations’) were at work in our sample caves and suggest a developmental scheme for these. We propose that these ‘conversations’ with caves and their surfaces may have broader implications for how we conceive of the emergence and development of art in the Palaeolithic.

Cova Dones: a major Palaeolithic cave art site in eastern Iberia

ABSTRACTThis article presents details of the recent discovery of Palaeolithic cave art in Cova Dones, Valencia. The preliminary results reveal a rich graphic assemblage with features that are unusual for Mediterranean Upper Palaeolithic art and were previously unknown for the Pleistocene in the eastern Iberian coast.

Absence of botanical European Palaeolithic cave art: What can it tell us about plant awareness disparity?

Societal Impact StatementCave art has been an integral part of human history, providing a glimpse into the lives and cultures of our ancestors. Prehistoric botanical art is an important medium that can help us to redefine our intimate relationship with plants. The findings from our work provide some evidence from the European Palaeolithic period that modern plant awareness disparity (PAD) might be more deeply rooted in our past. By inspiring a deeper appreciation and understanding of the natural world, cave art can help people to reconnect with plants, thus tackling PAD.

Sixteenth-Century Readers, Fifteenth-Century Books: Continuities of Reading in the English Reformation

Sixteenth-Century Readers, Fifteenth-Century Books: Continuities of Reading in the English Reformation

Integration of Remote-Sensing Techniques for the Preventive Conservation of Paleolithic Cave Art in the Karst of the Altamira Cave

Rock art offers traces of our most remote past and was made with mineral and organic substances in shelters, walls, or the ceilings of caves. As it is notably fragile, it is fortunate that some instances remain intact—but a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors can lead to its disappearance. Therefore, as a valuable cultural heritage, rock art requires special conservation and protection measures. Geomatic remote-sensing technologies such as 3D terrestrial laser scanning (3DTLS), drone flight, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) allow us to generate exhaustive documentation of caves and their environment in 2D, 2.5D, and 3D. However, only its combined use with 3D geographic information systems (GIS) lets us generate new cave maps with details such as overlying layer thickness, sinkholes, fractures, joints, and detachments that also more precisely reveal interior–exterior interconnections and gaseous exchange; i.e., the state of senescence of the karst that houses the cave. Information of this kind is of great value for the research, management, conservation, monitoring, and dissemination of cave art.

Problem sztuki naskalnej w Polsce

It is assumed that occurrence of Palaeolithic cave art in Central and Eastern Europe is not typical for this part of the continent, as it is difficult to consider its few examples as a result of solely poor preservation. Looking into this issue from the perspective of region of modern Poland, several questions arise: Why is it registered on so few sites, and is it truly an atypical phenomenon for the region? In problem discussion, there are three key elements: research interest, state of preservation, and competences needed for making a discovery. These elements, covered in following paper, explicitly suggest that in terms of Polish cave sites, we do not possess enough information to conclude which type of occurrence we are dealing with.

The Upper Paleolithic rock art of Ukraine between here and nowhere

The complex of Kamyana Mohyla is the westernmost rock art location of the Eurasian Steppe and the largest accumulation of cave art sites in the Eastern Europe. So far it has been believed that the complex contains the Upper Paleolithic cave art images as well as portable art collection that resemble the instances of Upper Paleolithic worldview. Though this belief lacked the support of archaeological context and chronological attribution it remained neither proved nor disputed. However, the application of digital photogrammetric tools allowed to perform the sub-millimeter surface modeling of the rock art objects and to re-examine and reconsider the engravings that were previously attributed to Pleistocene. The modeling results presented in this article revealed the complete absence of figurative images for the collection of portable art specimens and the dubious character of those for the cave art one. Therefore, the whole collection should be reconsidered, studied and attributed according to the state of the art and contemporary archaeological record in the region. This contribution attempts to think over the possible Upper Paleolithic origin of the motifs from Kamyana Mohyla in the light of new data and proposes three hypotheses towards the understanding of the rock art assemblage from one of the caves in the complex.

Radiocarbon Dates for Las Chimeneas (Cantabria, Spain) Palaeolithic Cave Art: Quality of Radiocarbon and Relevance to Parietal Art

AMS radiocarbon dating has been widely applied in Palaeolithic art research and its value has been proven over the past three decades. Yet it still suffers from issues that need to be discussed and analysed to improve future sampling strategies and strengthen the interpretation of the results. This study presents new AMS dates for the parietal art in Cueva de Las Chimeneas in northern Spain, describes the quality of the samples, and discusses their reliability. The joint assessment of the dates and its comparison with previously obtained dates as well as stratified and dated portable art makes it possible to put forward a hypothesis about the time of creation of the cave's parietal art and the degree of synchrony or diachrony in its production. Consequently, it is proposed that the cave art at Las Chimeneas was created in the lower Magdalenian, between 19,000 and 17,500 cal bp.

Beyond images: the external archaeological context of Palaeolithic rock art (EAC). A case study from the Nalón river basin (northern Iberia)

In this study of the location and physical characteristics of the surroundings of a series of decorated caves in the Nalón river basin in Asturias (northern Iberia), the spatial analysis, which included fieldwork and the use of GIS, has defined the external archaeological context (EAC) of pre-Magdalenian art in that area. The spatial information has been integrated with the study of the rock art in order to observe tendencies that are statistically quantifiable by means of multidimensional scaling (MDS), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and property fitting. The study of the potential association between the location of the caves and the rock art constitutes a new approach within Palaeolithic cave art research. First, the sample of decorated caves was analysed to discriminate different situations as regards the total number of representations, relative importance of figurative and non-figurative motifs, and the type of figurative representations. Second, the relationship between the EAC and graphic activity was tested. The location of the decorated caves does not fit a homogeneously distributed pattern owing to marked contrasts in the spatial variables. The greater or lesser ease of access to the location of the cave art sites does not condition the type of graphic expression. Instead, visibility is clearly associated with the total number of representations, and particularly with the number of non-figurative representations. However, this particular association between high visibility and non-figurative motifs should be nuanced because the issues of the conservation and interpretation of the exterior engravings mostly affect the identification of the figurative representations.

On-site spectroradiometric analysis of Palaeolithic cave art: Investigating colour variability in the red rock art of Points cave (France)

The colour of Palaeolithic cave art is an important parameter to consider when examining possible links between different pieces of rock art. Recent developments in portable, non-invasive spectroradiometry have given researchers the ability to carry out in-situ colorimetric analyses of rock art, even in deep-cave environments. Although these methods provide quantitative data that can be used to compare the colours of different paintings, differences in chromaticity values can be difficult to interpret from an archaeological point of view.We investigated factors that may contribute to this colour variability by combining a series of visible spectroradiometric analyses of the Palaeolithic red rock art in Points Cave (Aiguèze, France) with macrophotography of the surfaces analysed. This fieldwork was supplemented by laboratory experiments to produce reference data we could use to assess the impact of environmental factors on the results of the in-situ spectroradiometric analyses.The variability in the chromaticity values we obtained can be explained almost entirely by colour differences in the underlying cave wall and by the extent to which the pigment layer masks the substrate. These results suggest that the rock art in Points Cave is homogenous in colour and support the hypothesis suggested by archaeological analyses that the rock art belongs to a single prehistoric iconographic project.

Application of Line of Sight and Potential Audience Analysis to Unravel the Spatial Organization of Palaeolithic Cave Art

The endokarst landscape is the result of long erosion and sedimentation processes that have modelled an environment in which capricious forms abound. Despite being a hostile environment for human life, these caves must have attracted the attention of human groups from as early as the Palaeolithic. It is striking that many examples of rock art appear to be closely symbiotic with their natural support; nevertheless, it is difficult to confirm any relationship in the distribution of the decorated spaces, based on their morphology. Moreover, if we start from the hypothesis—widely accepted, but not demonstrated—that Palaeolithic cave art is a system of visual communication, the visibility of the art or the number of people who could be accommodated in the decorated sectors should be determining factors. In order to avoid making subjective appraisals when analysing these factors, we have designed a Python script with a workflow to work directly with 3D models of caverns using GISs, which can be easily replicated and edited by other researchers. Application of this script in the Magdalenian caves of Atxurra, Santimamiñe and Altxerri (Northern Spain) has allowed us to compare them accurately based on their visibility features. This has shown that in some cases, there may have been prior planning to enhance the visibility of some figures. In all cases, the groups of figures are located in deep and hidden parts of the caves, usually in sectors with limited capacity to accommodate people, which would be consistent with a system of restricted communication.

The Temporality of Contemporaneity and Contemporary Art: Kant, Kentridge and Cave Art as Elective Contemporaries

AbstractThis article contributes to understanding of Contemporary Art and of the temporality of contemporaneity, along with the philosophy of time more generally. I propose a diachronic contemporaneity over time gaps – elective contemporaneity – through examination of Kant’s Transcendental Aesthetic, the Third Analogy and the concept of ‘following’ among artistic geniuses; diachronic recognition and disjunctive synchronicity discoverable in William Kentridge’s multimedia artworks; as well as non-chronological temporal implications of superimpositions in late Palaeolithic cave art suggesting ‘graphic respect’. Elective contemporaneity shows up complexity in relations to past and present, putting in question definitions of ‘Contemporary Art’ restricted to either chronology or supposedly definitive paradigms.