art without the

PAULG. BAHN*

It is over a decade since Palaeolithic parietal art was first spotted in Europe on exposed open-air surfaces - cave art without the caves. Now the major site in is threatened by the lake behind a river-dam under construction. Here is a report on what cave art outside the caves amounts to, and of the confrontations over the CBa site that were in the headlines early this year.

A series of major discoveries over the past 15 open-air figures were of Palaeolithic age - years have transformed our conception of the notably at Chichkino, Siberia, where hundreds parietal art of the last Ice Age in Europe, con- of animal depictions over a distance of about 3 firming what had long been suspected by some km include a horse and a wild bovid consid- researchers - that the -known art surviv- ered characteristic of the end of the Ice Age - ing in roughly 300 caves in western Europe is but few scholars have been prepared to take unrepresentative and uncharacteristic of the them seriously. However, the series of impor- period, owing its apparent predominance in the tant finds in far western Europe have finally archaeological record to a taphonomic fluke. brought the proof that Palaeolithic people did In reality we have no idea how important or produce art in the open air. So far, none of the frequent the decoration of caves was in Ice Age six known sites (FIGURE1) has been subjected Europe, but it is extremely probable that the to any kind of direct dating (Bednarik 1995), vast majority of that period’s was pro- though this may be possible for some in the duced in the open air. Very few examples will near future: all are dated simply on the basis have been able to survive the many millennia of the style of their pecked or engraved figures, of weathering (unlike the caves), so that the the same is true of the vast majority of Pal- six sites discovered so far are all the more pre- aeolithic cave art. It is safe to say that if most cious. The current threat to the largest of them, of these figures had been found inside caves in Portugal’s C6a Valley, of being drowned by they would have been classed as Palaeolithic a dam is therefore a grievous blow to a phe- without hesitation. Inevitably, only engravings nomenon of which we still know almost noth- and peckings have survived outside the caves. ing. Paintings were almost certainly produced out- side too (indeed,some of these engravings may Open-air Palaeolithic parietal art originally have been coloured, like Palaeolithic Since one of the original arguments against the bas-reliefs and much portable art - see Bahn authenticity of both the Altamira ceiling and & Vertut 1988),but are most unlikely to have the painted pebbles of the Azilian was that survived. parietal art could not possibly survive from It is hard to say, at this early stage of the such a remote age even inside a cave (see Bahn investigations, how open-air art relates to cave & Vertut 1988: 23), it goes without saying that art - especially since there is still no consen- virtually nobody entertained the possibility sus about the meaning of cave art after a cen- that Ice Age depictions in the open air could tury of study, with new caves like Cosquer and have survived the millennia of weathering and Chauvet constantly bringing surprises and erosion, There were occasional claims that modifying our knowledge. There are some

* 428 Anlaby Road, Hull HU3 6QP, England. Received 20 April 1995, accepted 29 April 3995 ANTIQUITY69 (1995): 231-7 232 REPORTS

FRANCE

Fornols

FIGURE1. Locations of open-air Palaeolithic art.

similarities - the recognizable figures are pri- elements. They were hammered out, though the marily adult animals drawn in profile, with marks were subsequently scored into continu- stylistic traits that correspond to those of ous lines, Since its discovery, the horse has known portable and cave art; they are domi- been badly damaged by chalking, scoring and nated by horses and bovids; there are ‘signs’ painting. Its style has been attributed to the and apparently abstract motifs; and the art early . seems to cluster in ‘panels’ (i.e. separate rocks). Around the same time, at Domingo Garcia, By virtue of its location, the open-air art ap- (),the figure of a horse, almost a pears inherently less mysterious or magical metre in length, was found hammered into a than the art in deep caves, but of course this is rocky outcrop, 960 m above sea-level (Martin no guide to its meaning, since we know from & Moure 1981; de Balbin & Moure 1988); a sche- ethnography that open-air art can be enor- matic engraving of a different style and period mously powerful, religious or taboo, just as it is superimposed on its outline. Since then, a can also be simply decorative or narrative. closer examination of this rock and other rocks The first discovery, three animal figures, in the region (some up to 15 km away) as well including a fine horse, 62 cm long and 37.5 as a removal of lichens has revealed at least cm high, was made in 1981 on a rock-face on 115 figures, 82 of them at Domingo Garcia; most the right bank of the Albaguera, a little tribu- are fine engravings, and there are hundreds of tary of the river Douro, at Mazouco in north- unidentified lines (Ripoll & Municio 1992, east Portugal, at an altitude of 210 m above 1994; Ripoll et al. 1994). Stylistically, most of sea-level [Jorge et al. 1981; 1!382; Jorge 1987; the figures have been ascribed to the end of Jorge et QI. 1981/2);they had survived thanks the and to the early Magdalenian to a position which protected them from the They are dominated by horses, but cervids and REPORTS 233

FIGURE2. Siega Verde,panel 29. The fargesffigure, an aurochs, is about 1 m long. (After de Balbin Behrmann b Alcolea Gonzcilez 1994.1 caprids are also well represented. Bovids are multiple deeply incised lines. Stylistically it comparatively rare. has been ascribed to the final or the A series of fine incisions were found in 1983 Solutrean, through comparisons with engraved at Fornols-Haut, CampGme, in the eastern plaquettes from the cave of Parpallb. In view French Pyrenees, on a huge block of schist lo- of developments at Doming0 Garcia, it is likely cated at an altitude of 750 m on a mountainside that more figures will eventually be found in (Abelanet 1985; Sacchi 1987; Sacchi, Abelanet the vicinity. & Brul6 1987; 1988; Sacchi et al. 1988a; 1988b; This is certainly what has occurred at Siega Bahn 1985). The rock has been greatly weath- Verde, near Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain, about 60 ered by wind; because the eastern face is shel- km south of Mazouco. Here, in rocks along the tered, its engravings, although eroded, are left bank of the river Agueda (another tribu- clearly visible. The face is covered in engrav- tary of the Douro), what were first thought to ings, drawn in all directions, and comprising be a few hammered-out figures, discovered in about 10 small animals - none complete - as 1989, have turned out to be a minimum of 540 well as signs and zigzags. The finest figures pecked and incised images; most are located include the head of an isard (Pyrenean cham- within a 1300-m stretch, 75% concentrated ois), 7.5 cm high, and that of an ibex. Stylisti- within 400 m (de Balbin et al. 1991; de Balbin cally they seem to belong to the Magdalenian. & Alcolea 1994).No less than half of the iden- More recently, two further sites of the same tifiable figures are horses, with bovids and nature were found in Spain. In Almeria, an area cervids in second place (FIGURE2). Like the previously bereft of Palaeolithic art, a horse other sites of the region, the style has been at- figure was discovered at Piedras Blancas tributed to the final Solutreadearly Mag- (Martinez Garcia 1986/7; 1992).Situated on an dalenian. inclined block, at an altitude of 1400 m near The most recent discovery - first made the town of Esc~llar,the horse is made with public in October 1994 -has occurred in the 234 REPORTS

FIGURE3. Two horses with overlapping heads, Muxagafa, C6a Valley.

C6a valley in northeast Portugal, yet another revocably lost under 100 m of water; they may tributary of the Douro. Here, the pecked fig- already be totally inaccessible by August this ures and engravings - at least 150 of them, on year. schist blocks spread over about 13 km - are If the art had only just been discovered, it of horses, ibex and, especially, of aurochs (wild would be unfortunate. But since its existence oxen); they measure from 15 cm to over 2 m in has been known since 1992, and kept secret, a size. From their style, it has been estimated that scandal has erupted within the world of Por- they are probably Solutrean (Clottes 19951, tuguese archaeology, and politics. The though in fact it is extremely likely that sev- President of Portugal, Dr Mario Soares, who eral phases of Palaeolithic and perhaps even visited the engravings earlier this year, has been Epipalaeolithic artistic activity are represented. asked to intervene personally in an affair that They include some very fine images, particu- may lead to the cancellation of this very costly larly two large horses with overlapping heads engineering project. (FIGURE3). The vast majority of known figures The company building the dam, EDP are the visible, pecked examples, but the area (Electricidade de Portugal), commissioned an also seems to contain quantities of exceedingly environmental impact report for the region in fine, small, almost invisible engravings simi- 1989; its archaeological aspect was carried out lar to those of Fornols. by archaeologist Sande Lemos, who spotted some important Copper Age paintings in rock- The Vila Nova de Foz CBa dam and the C6a shelters (the most important group in north- figures ern Portugal), and a couple of Roman villas of Some of the CBa figures have been under 3 m exceptional interest. He recommended that of water for the past 12 years, since the Pocinho intensive archaeological prospection should dam was built 2 km away; fluctuations in wa- take place. The EDP published this report in ter-level have exposed them several times dur- 1991, but despite Lemos’ insistence that the ing that period, so that they are still more or region contained an ‘archaeological patrimony less accessible. Yet a new factor now threatens of exceptional interest’, the company claims to destroy them completely. A new hydro-elec- that the study revealed a few things of archaeo- tric dam, that of Vila Nova de Foz CBa, is logical value but nothing to indicate huge sig- planned for the valley, and work began on it in nificance. September 1994 (FIGURE4). I3y the time it is In March 1993, IPPAR (The Instituto completed in 1998, the engravings will be ir- Portugues do Patrimdnio Arquitectonico e REPORTS 235

FIGLJRE4. Aurochs engraving in fore- ground, CBa dam- works in background

Arqueol6gic0, funded by the Ministry of Cul- gravings a secret so that he could publish the ture) sent in a team, financed by the EDP and definitive book on ‘his’ site after it had been led by a young archaeologist, Nelson Rebanda. drowned - in other words, of putting his self- It has emerged that, although the art’s exist- interest and personal glory before the risk of ence was officially announced by IPPAR on 19 the site’s irrevocable destruction (Bednarik November 1994, after the main body of sub- 1994); it was Rebanda who, as a student, had merged engravings was spotted - by which reported the existence of Mazouco to his pro- time work on the new dam had been under way fessors in Porto (Jorge et al. 1981: 11),and, ap- for two months -they and the EDP knew well parently slighted because they received all the over a year before about 10 engraved figures kudos for this find, he was determined not to on rocks that have never been submerged (in let the same thing happen again (Bednarik fact a video of them was made in 1993), yet 1994). said absolutely nothing publicly. Portugal’s top A number of Socialist members of parlia- archaeologists and rock art specialists were ment have demanded that a parliamentary kept completely in the dark, until two Portu- commission must investigate the affair, and guese members of IFRAO (The International some have visited the site to see for themselves. Federation of Rock Art Organisations), Mila A report by a team of specialists from UNESCO Simdes de Abreu and Ludwig Jaffe, learned of who visited the area in early February 1995 has the site and informed their colleagues. The rea- insisted on the world-class importance of the sons for this long silence are unclear, and sus- engravings, and urged that work on the dam picions abound as to the motives behind it. be halted, at least temporarily, so that an ex- IPPAR - which claims it intended to un- tensive and intensive archaeological study can dertake an adequate recording and publication be carried out. President Soares has received - has been called incompetent and irrespon- letters from rock-art specialists in , , sible by some archaeological researchers and Britain and America, urging him to intervene professors for its years of bureaucratic inertia; to ensure the rescue of the engravings. Pedro there have been declarations that the organisa- Santana Lopes, the Secretary of State for Cui- tion no longer has any moral or scientific au- ture, has guaranteed that ‘everything will be thority, and even talk of putting it in court for done’ to save the art, but it is not yet clear what crimes against the country’s heritage. Others can or will be done -whether the waters will have referred to a ‘scandalous concealment’ be lowered for a study to take place, or the frag- and accused Rebanda of trying to keep the en- ile and fissured engraved rocks will be re- 236 REPORTS

FIGURE5. Vila Nova de Foz CBa, town hall, 3 February 1995 - world’sfirst rock- art demo! moved, which runs the risk of destroying them. ken in denouncing the project as a stupid mis- All of these options are very expensive; the sim- take by Portugal’s dominant technocracy, in- plest choice, that of abandoning the dam fluenced by engineers who are obsessed with project, may also be the cheapest since only a building big dams. He claims that, in Portugal, fraction of its funding has so far been used. studies of environmental impact merely serve Major engineering projects of this type of- to legitimize options that have already been ten involve conflicts of interest - a huge taken ‘u prior?. amount of money has already been spent, and The immediate solution, demanded by ar- the dam is providing temporary employment chaeologists and specialists within Portugal for 600 construction workers. Hut there are, and and beyond, as well as by some Portuguese always have been, strong reasons to question politicians and by the UNESCO report, is for its very existence. The EDP may have commis- an independent international commission of sioned an impact study; but their dam will in- experts to be assembled to examine this unique undate 900 ha of soil that is absolutely ideal body of ancient art, and advise on how best to for the production of vines for port, a crucial investigate, record and safeguard it for the fu- industry in Portugal, and will alter the micro- ture, as part of humanity’s heritage. If it can be climate of a far wider area. Currently, what was preserved in situ, by abandoning the dam, it is once a beautiful and tranquil valley is already probable that tens of thousands of tourists will disfigured with deep and hideous wounds, and visit the site and hence contribute enormously there are dynamite explosions every day: there to the area’s economic growth. will soon be an irreversible ecological and cul- At the time of writing, late April 1995, it tural calamity. remains to be seen what the outcome of this Moreover, Nuno Ribeiro da Silva, an ex-Sec- extraordinary dilemma will be: work contin- retary of State for Energy, declares that the dam ues on the dam, and the government seems is not needed for energy, and that those who determined to remove some engravings and let defend it are ignorant or charlatans. While in the rest drown. However, there is tremendous power - less than five years ago -he consist- local support for preserving the engravings in ently rejected this project because the poten- situ, not least among the youngsters from the tial electricity production was not worth the local high school in Vila Nova de Foz C6a, who loss of the optimal lands for port production. have collected almost a million signatures on The new archaeological factor merely confirms a petition, have produced T-shirts and stick- his view, and he has been particularly outspo- ers, and on 3 February carried out what was REPORTS 237 probably the world’s first rock-art demonstra- are also threatened by future dam projects. We tion (FIGURE5), marching on the town hall, with only know of six open-air sites of this kind, banners, chants and songs in an effort to stop and three of them (Mazouco, Fornols and the dam and save their heritage. Piedras Blancas) comprise single figures or Their campaign deserves whole-hearted rock-faces. Our extremely limited knowledge support, since it would be an unthinkable trag- of this newly discovered phenomenon really edy to lose the CBa engravings before anything rests only on the other three: Domingo Garcia whatsoever has been learned about their ar- and Siega Verde are being studied in exemplary chaeological context. We also know very little fashion, with the latter probably destined to about their distribution; untold quantities of become an archaeological park. It is to be hoped pecked figures and, especially, of small fine that the CBa Valley can also be studied, rather engravings doubtless remain to be found in this than drowned, so that we can learn more about valley and in other valleys of the region which ‘normal’Palaeolithic art.

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