Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art E

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art E

Europe: Prehistoric 2599 E thought to follow its own story imprinted in plas- tic arts, images, and rock combined. The Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art sequence of chambers, their distance from day- light, total obscurity, oppressive dampness, and Georges Sauvet1, Cesar Gonza´lez Sainz2, low temperature condition are the soul for the Jose´ Luis Sanchidria´n3 and Valentı´n Villaverde4 reception of founding myths as to the justification 1Centre de Recherche et d’Etude de l’Art of the group and the mysteries with which all Pre´historique, Universite´ de Toulouse-II, conscious existence is confronted. The solutions Toulouse, were there, revealed as soothing, real with respect 2Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones to the dangers of the path taken into the , and Prehisto´ricas de Cantabria (IIIPC), Universidad E unreal with respect to the secrets of life, all com- de Cantabria, Santander, bined in a dazzling of physical and spiritual 3Area de Prehistoria, Departamento de Geografı´a senses. Gothic windows do nothing other than y Ciencias del Territorio, Facultad de Filosofı´a seduce in order to convince. And the temples of y Letras, Universidad de Co´rdoba, Co´rdoba, Science are even more suspect of soliciting, with Spain their columns, tympanums, porticos and statues 4Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueologı´a, from Antiquity. Universitat de Vale`ncia, Valencia, Spain The revelations contained in the depths of damp dark harnessed the suspended conscience, by adolescence as much as by the Introduction dangers overcome. But the solutions were there, in the trembling illumination on the damp walls In its broadest sense, the term prehistoric rock with bright vivid colors. Their harmony, linked art covers the whole of graphic manifestations to the scale of forms, gigantic and dancing fig- affixed by prehistoric humans on rock surfaces ures, came literally out of the darkness and of all kinds. The surfaces can be rocks out in anguish. The revelation of the mysteries of exis- the open air, walls protected by shallow tence was accorded by the seduction stimulated rockshelters, or deep cave walls in total dark- by the rhythms, color, and strangeness. Paleo- ness. For deep cave situations, the term “parietal lithic art, like man who overcame the challenges art” is often used, but these two terms cover the of earthly life, also contributes one of the culmi- same reality. The phenomenon is widespread nating points in the spiritual adventure of throughout the world, as it meets the basic civilization. needs of preliterate human societies. In Europe, prehistoric rock art extends from northern Nor- way to Andalusia and covers more than 30,000 Cross-References years, from the Upper to the Roman conquest. As a result, it responds to an infinite ▶ European Rock Art: number of motivations depending on beliefs, Sacredness, Sanctity, and Symbolism systems of social organization, and types of sub- sistence economies. In formal terms, it uses a wide range of techniques (engraving, sculp- Further Reading ture, finger strokes in clay, line drawings, mono- chrome or polychrome ) and a wide CLOTTES, J. 2008. L’art des cavernes pre´historiques. Paris: range of styles (from figurative naturalist art to Phaidon. schematic and to geometric abstraction). LEROI-GOURHAN, A. 1965. Pre´histoire de l’art occidental. Although the word art is sometimes criticized Paris: Mazenod. LORBLANCHET, M. 1995. Les grottes orne´es de la because of its contemporary connotation, it is pre´histoire. Nouveaux regards. Paris: Errance. difficult to escape the idea that the human groups E 2600 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art who made rock art were pursuing, in addition to Key Issues the basic motivations that animated them, an undeniable aesthetic quest, even if it sometimes Paleolithic Rock Art diverges from our own criteria. General Points Paleolithic rock art occurs throughout the Upper Paleolithic, beginning c. 35,000 BP (or earlier) Historical Background (with the arrival of Homo sapiens sapiens in Europe) and ending around 12,000 BP, shortly In the nineteenth century, there was little before the end of the glacial period. The oldest acceptance of the aptitude of prehistoric people figurative works, attributed to the “” to paint and engrave images onto rock. The idea culture, are the statuettes of Swabian Jura of the “primitive savage” perpetuated for a long () and the parietal and engrav- time and prevented the acceptance of the full ings on the caves of Fumane (), dated intellectual capacities of societies before his- between 32,000 and 36,500 14C BP, and of tory. The remarkable paintings on the ceil- Chauvet (France), between 30,000 and 32,000 ingofAltamira,discoveredin1879,werenot 14C BP ( strongly underesti- officially recognized as a prehistoric work until mates calendar ages). 1902. There is no doubt that the aesthetic, natu- Paleolithic art is fundamentally an art of ani- ralism, and polychrome character of these fig- mals: human representations are rare and are ures impeded this recognition. It was not until most often caricature-like, in contrast to animals the second half of the twentieth century that which achieve a sometimes striking realism. paleoanthropological approaches to rock art Numerous nonfigurative drawings or “signs” meant that rock art study could acquire the status complete the iconography. Deep caves, invested of a scientific discipline within prehistoric since the beginning of the period, remained the . Today, rock art is considered most popular places until the end, to the extent a precious tool with which to address the cultures that we sometimes speak of “cave art,” even and the ideological and symbolic universe of though engravings and also decorated hunter-gatherer, then herders and farmers occupied rockshelters, and that rocks exposed to societies who succeeded on the European the open air have also recently been discovered in territory. The need to leave a lasting mark of Spain and . one’s culture on monumental mediums is An in-depth examination reveals deep regional universal. Only the forms and locations that thematic and stylistic differences and significant were selected to practice this exercise change changes over time across Europe. Several models with the subsistence economy and the prevailing of relative chronology, based on archaeological systems of thought. data, superpositions, and stylistic sequences, have In a report presented to UNESCO in 1984, the been proposed. Those of Henri Breuil (1952) and number of individual rock art graphics in Europe Andre´ Leroi-Gourhan (1965) are the better was estimated at four million (Anati 2003). This known, but new methods for direct dating by number has easily been surpassed today. accelerator mass spectrometry and also recent Paleolithic art alone counts for more than 360 discoveries like the have forced sites, with recent discoveries of major scientific a reconsideration of the chronostylistic models interest in France (Chauvet in 1994), Portugal based on the assumption of a linear evolution (Foz Coˆa in 1994), and Spain (La Garma in leading from an original schematic form toward 1995). The debate is no longer about the better controlled realism. Some advances and set- authenticity but rather about the chronocultural backs, phases of invention, and regression have attribution of these works, given the difficulty of crisscrossed over these 20,000 years and provided absolute dating. a more complex schema. Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2601 E

Iberian Peninsula phenomenon began with the Aurignacian In the extreme southwest of Europe, the Iberian (at least in the north: La Vin˜a rockshelter, early Peninsula retains evidence of intense graphic phases of Castillo) and is present at the southern activity during the Upper Paleolithic, with more end (Tarifa group) from the (Fig. 1). than 200 parietal assemblages distributed in all Paleolithic art from the Iberian Peninsula is fully regions, not including the many portable art integrated with that of Western Europe and objects (Bicho et al. 2007). The most important presents the same two formal conceptions of the concentration is that in the Cantabrian region, animal figure, a conceptual naturalism, minimal- a narrow strait between sea and mountain, open ist, in the early phases (figures reduced to at its eastern point toward the southwest French a contour with very few details and internal E region, which contains around 120 decorated elements) and, from 17,000 BP, a more visual caves covering all the periods of the Upper naturalism, attentive to anatomical details, with Paleolithic (Collective 2002; Gonza´lez Sainz a more successful treatment of volume (infills and et al. 2003;Rı´os Gonza´lez et al. 2007). Centers, internal details, correct perspectives of limbs and such as Pen˜a Candamo, Altamira, El Castillo, and horns). However, art from the Iberian Peninsula La Pasiega, have played an important role in the shows notable singularities such as engraved history of research on Paleolithic rock art. Other rocks in open air in the valleys of Atlantic rivers regions on the peninsula, which had practically with large-size figures produced by pecking no parietal evidence around thirty years ago, (Fig. 2). With few exceptions, paintings are only today present important concentrations. We can preserved in deep caves. Additionally, more tem- cite among others the spectacular rock outcrops perate climatic conditions than in the northern in open air in the Duero valleys (Domingo regions of Europe brought about a distribution Garcia, , Mazouco, and specially of rich fauna including horses, , stags, the 27 sites along the Coˆa River), Tagus (Ocreza), does, and ibex with a gradient from north to and Guadiana (Molino Manza´nez) (Baptista south: in the Cantabrian region, in addition to 2009). To these open-air sites, several caves this fauna, bison and reindeer (mostly during the need to be added: Escoural in Portugal, ) and some very rare mammoths and Maltravieso in Extremadura, and in the interior megaloceros can be found. By contrast, bison and of the peninsula, some cavities in the foothills of reindeer are exceptional in the two sub-plateaus the Central and Iberian systems (La Griega, Los and completely absent from Levant and Casares, La Hoz, El Reno, etc.). In the Mediter- Andalusia. ranean area, today several small ensembles can The strong compartmentalization of the be counted (Meravelles, Cova Fosca, the group of territory due to the mountainous character of Cieza, El Nin˜o) and isolated parietal representa- the peninsula presents other differences that tions (Parpallo´, Reino´s), without forgetting the cannot be explained by climatic reasons, such engravings in daylight of the En Melia` shelter as the distribution of abstract signs (particularly (Castello´n) (Ma´rtinez-Valle 2006). Finally, in abundant in the Cantabrian region and Andalu- the extreme south, Andalusia has about twenty sia) or the proportion of stags and does, which is parietal sites in caves or rockshelters: La Pileta, very contrasted depending on the region. Sim- Ardales, Malalmuerzo, El Morro´n, Ambrosio in ilarly, the stylistic changes during the Upper the interior; El Moro and Palomas near Tarifa; Paleolithic do not follow the same models in Nerja, Navarro, Victoria on the coast of Ma´laga; all regions. The case of the Cantabrian region is and a single open-air site (Piedras Blancas). very distinct in this respect because of its inter- Figurative graphic activity spread in the actions with southwestern France, particularly Iberian Peninsula like an oil stain, affecting intense during certain periods (central and final diverse territories and subject to highly variable phases of the Magdalenian; cf. Fig. 3), and environmental conditions and resources. The more restrained during others (during the E 2602 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 1 Parietal art of the (d) Covalanas (Cantabrie). (e) La Pileta (Ma´laga). Upper Paleolithic in Spain. (a) Santo Adriano (Asturies). (f)Nerja(Ma´laga) (Photos: G. Sauvet (a, f); C. Fritz and (b) Castillo (Cantabrie). (c) La Garma (Cantabrie). G. Tosello (b); C. Gonza´lez Sainz (c, d); J.L. Sanchidria´n(e))

glacial maximum and its extension in the older little change in the Magdalenian. These regions Dryas where the Cantabrian region showed show some similarity in the graphic conven- a high artistic personality). Other peninsular tions, which indicate real interactions between regions (Levant, Atlantic face, and even Anda- them.Thesearealsoconfirmedbytheexten- lusia) present a greater continuity from the sion of some elements of the lithic weapons graphic point of view, with less modification such as the stemmed and eared , over time. In these regions, the Gravettian and which are known in the of Levant Solutrean conceptions continued with very and Portugal. Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2603 E

E

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 2 Paleolithic art on rocks in daylight on the Iberian Peninsula. (a–b) Foz Coˆa (Portugal). (c–d) Siega Verde (Salamanque) (Photo: G. Sauvet)

Decorated objects (portable art), during the bovines, caprine, cervid); carnivores (bears and Upper Paleolithic, are strongly associated to felines) are more rare as are humans and anthro- rock art but their distribution is strongly pomorphic figures. The proportions vary from conditioned by the conservation of organic those of consumed fauna, as it involves iconog- material, more favorable in caves (Cantabrian raphy linked to myths and beliefs and not directly region, Ebro valley, and north of Catalonia) related to daily life. where a diversified and conventional portable The sites related to the first culture of the art is known. On the Atlantic coast, in the north- Upper Paleolithic, Aurignacian, are very rare ern sub-plateau and on all the Mediterranean and often reduced to a state of relics. This coast, mostly objects in stone can be found such makes the discovery of the Chauvet Cave as the collection from Parpallo´ (Valencia) includ- (Arde`che) even more exceptional. The technical ing thousands of engraved and painted plaquettes quality and the conservation of these painted and distributed throughout a long sequence going engraved representations (felines, rhinos, mam- from the Gravettian to the Magdalenian and, moths, horses, bison, ibex, bears, etc. in consequently, with a great interest to conduct descending order) have cast doubt on their age a diachronic and comparative analysis with the despite the argument of the eight consistent direct regional rock art (Villaverde 1994). radiocarbon datings. In Dordogne, it is more than likely that parietal art must have flourish in shel- France ters that have unfortunately collapsed (Blanchard France is home to 167 caves and shelters attrib- and Castanet rockshelters). uted to the Upper Paleolithic. Animal motifs The following period, known as Gravettian, constitue the larger group of representations. sees the rock art phenomenon increase and extend In general, herbivores dominate (equines, from the north of the Loire (Mayenne-Sciences, E 2604 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 3 Parietal (Cantabria). (c) Santimamin˜e (Viscaye). (d) Ekain Paleolithic art in Spain, attributed to the (Guipu´zcoa) (Photos: J. Fortea Pe´rez (a); C. Gonza´lez Magdalenian. (a) Covaciella (Asturies). (b) La Garma Sainz (b, c); P. Diaz de Gonza´lez (d))

Arcy-sur-Cure) to the Pyrenees (Gargas) passing Cantabrian region (Castillo, Fuente del Salı´n), by Dordogne (Cussac) and Quercy (Pech-Merle, the northern and southern slopes of the Pyrenees Cougnac) (Fig. 4a–d). The , today (Gargas, Tibiran, Fuente del Trucho), Quercy immerged under 30 m of water near , (Pech-Merle), (Cosquer), and even belongs to this formal universe. The represented Italy (Paglicci), to name only a few major sites. fauna are again more or less the same as in The Solutrean, the culture following the Aurignacian: mammoths and megaloceros are Gravettian, is very original in terms of lithic omnipresent. Apart from exceptional representa- industries, but left few unmistakable traces in tions of “wounded” men struck by multiple terms of parietal creation. The most remarkable strokes (Pech-Merle, Cougnac, Cosquer), are sculptures in bas-relief (Le Roc de Sers, humans are represented by the bas-reliefs of Charente and Le Fourneau du Diable, Dordogne). Laussel, with the famous “woman with a horn” Several caves in the Rhone valley have been which is related to the immense trend of feminine attributed to this period but without certainty representations with opulent forms whose hun- (Chabot, Ebbou, Oulen, Les Deux-Ouvertures). dreds of statuettes have circulated in Europe The Magdalenian, the last material culture of between 25,000 and 23,000 BP. Another original the Upper Paleolithic, saw a real explosion in rock theme, typical to this period, is that of negative art and portable art (Fig. 4e–f). In France, hand stencils produced by blowing is certainly the most famous Paleolithic cave around the hand applied to the wall. This motif because of its monumental polychrome frescos saw a considerable expansion from the Yonne and its thousands of entangled engravings, but its valley (Arcy-sur-Cure) to Andalusia (Ardales), belonging to the Magdalenian world is still through Extramadure (Maltravieso), the debated (without doubt Lascaux belongs to Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2605 E

E

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 4 Paleolithic parie- (b) Cougnac (Lot). (c) Mayrie`re supe´rieure tal art in France attributed to the earliest periods (a–e) (Tarn-et-Garonne). (d) Marcenac (Lot). (e) Le Portel and to the Magdalenian (e–f). (a) La Gre`ze (Dordogne). (Arie`ge). (f) Niaux (Arie`ge) (Photos: G. Sauvet) a very early stage of the Magdalenian or even Dordogne); it finds an equivalent no less remark- previous to this one). In the area of line drawings able in the Pyrenees in the form of a in and paintings, authentic works of art were pro- the round modeled in clay (bison from Tuc- duced in many Magdalenian sites (Font-de- d’Audoubert, bears from Montespan). Among Gaume in Dordogne, Niaux in the Pyrenees). At the original motifs from Magdalenian in its final the same time, the art of engraving reached its phase, it is appropriate to signal the new type of heights as much in Dordogne (, female representations, reduced to a simplified Teyjat) as in the Pyrenees (Les Trois-Fre`res, outline with no head or extremities. This model Le Tuc-d’Audoubert, Fontanet). Sculpture in known in several caves in Dordogne and Quercy rockshelters also reached a remarkable level (Pestillac, Carriot, Fronsac, Les Combarelles) saw (Angles-sur-l’Anglin in Vienne, Cap-Blanc in many transpositions in portable art. These female E 2606 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art silhouettes were also engraved on plaquettes In 2006, some engravings were observed for (Lalinde in Dordogne, Go¨nnersdorf in Germany) the first time in a German cave (Ma¨anderho¨hle, and exported all over Europe in the form of figu- Bavaria). While not figurative, their association rines and pendants carved in stone, bone, antler with speleothems evoking breast or phallus wood, lignite, and even flint. This shows the diffi- brings them closer to the Paleolithic way of culty in separating rock art from portable art for doing. Even more recently (2009), the site of this period in . Coliboaia in was signaled. This Along with figurative motifs, the Paleolithic extremely important site is similar to Chauvet in artists elaborated multiple conventional forms, its bestiary (, feline, bear, bison, horse) which are called “signs.” These drawings range and by its style. A recent dating confirms an age from simple (punctuation fingerprints, large blown close to that of Chauvet, which is not surprising discs, alignment of sticks) to complex forms with as Aurignacian settlements are abundant in evocative, but simplistic names: tectiforms (roof Romania. It is only a matter of time before other shaped), claviforms (club shaped), aviforms (bird discoveries are made in this region of Europe. shaped), etc. These signs were sometimes consid- ered as territorial markers representative of human The Meaning of Paleolithic Art groups despite their vast dispersion. At the beginning of the twentieth century, bathed as we were in ethnographic accounts, we imag- The Rest of Europe ined the “primitives” randomly drawing on the For a long time, Paleolithic rock art was walls of caves the image of their game to kill circumscribed to the “French-Cantabrian” them in effigy. Fortunately, the majority of domain, and this remains the reference point specialists today recognize that rock art is the today, even if caves in Andalusia like La Pileta fruit of coherent and structured thought which and Ardales have been known since 1911 and expressed a “symbolic construction” (D. Vialou) 1918 respectively. complemented by a “figurative syntax” Nonetheless, a comparable art is known in the (A. Leroi-Gourhan). Some people think that south of Italy (Romito, Romanelli) and Sicily Paleolithic thought has remained relatively (Addaura, Niscemi, Levanzo). Animal art in constant for all its duration and others that it has these rockshelters, most of them discovered in been affected by a profound evolution. Without the 1950s, recalls by its formal characteristics entering into this debate, we rightfully note that, the art of the final Magdalenian on the Mediter- despite its longevity and expansion, and despite ranean border, which confirms the dating of its formal diversity, Paleolithic rock art presents neighboring archaeological sites belonging to undeniable structural constants which confer the final and the Romanellian. upon them some unity. Among these is the expert The (Puglia) deserves a special use of the irregular morphology of the walls of mention, as it is probably the oldest decorated caves. In addition to the fact that these reliefs cave in Italy (apart from Fumane in Venetia), its increase the visual salience of these works, they belonging to the Gravettian world being con- establish a close relationship between the firmed by the presence of negative hands. underground mineral world and the animals Much more recent discoveries have consider- depicted by man. This sought-after osmosis may ably extended the domain of Paleolithic parietal in part explain the preference for caves. Another art in Europe. This is the case for the Church Hole motif that seems a constant in Paleolithic thought cave in Creswell (Derbyshire, England) in 2003. is female sexual signs, which have played an Despite some uncertainty about its iconography, important role since the Aurignacian (Chauvet, it seems that there are several animal engravings Castanet, ), and continues without of Paleolithic type, which is not surprising given interruption to the Magdalenian (Be´deilhac) that several final Paleolithic deposits, named here through the Solutrean (Micolo´n, Spain). To this Creswellian, are known in this region. can be added the very significant tendency Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2607 E concerning the assemblages of distinct animal Torcal de las Bojadillas in Albacete, and La species, which persist throughout the Paleolithic. Fuente del Sabuco in Murcia (Fig. 5). These are These formal constants must correspond to rockshelters exposed to daylight and rain as well ideological constants. Over time, all kinds of as to contact with animals that used these shelters theories, more or less inspired by ethnology and as protection, which explains why the conserva- drawn from the history of religions, followed one tion is unequal and some rockshelters are some- another, periodically resurfacing due to lack of times very faded and deteriorated. consensus. Art for art’s sake, hunting and fertility The main color is red, with various hues. Black , totemism, and have in turn and paint also exists, but white is only been highlighted. Given the difficulties of important in some regions like the Albarracı´nsec- E ethnographic comparative method and the tor (Teruel). In the majority of cases, the impossibility to interpret works coming from employed are iron oxides or manganese. Some another culture of which we know nothing, the examples of engravings are also known to exist. tendency among specialists of is Generally, we associate Levantine art with rep- currently to divert questions of interpretation to resentations of archers, who are often illustrated in make rock art a tool in the service of social and hunting scenes. However, humans appear in cultural paleoanthropology. a wide variety of themes including representations of groups in movements, scenes of collecting Post-Paleolithic Rock Art honey, and executions or warlike confrontations. At the end of the Paleolithic, with a change in the In terms of style, the human figure is more useful conditions of life, the form and function of rock to conduct classifications than animals. Indeed, the art changed. It is difficult to link with certainty human figure presents marked differences allowing rock manifestations with the Mesolithic period the definition of different graphic horizons (such is the case of geometric signs engraved in succeeding one another in the whole domain of sandstone massifs in , France) and Levantine art. Among others these differences con- to set apart local innovations from various influ- cern the proportions of the body; the degree of ences coming from the east Mediterranean and naturalism, movement, decorations; the way to rep- the North Atlantic coast. During the resent weapons; and the type of scene in which and in the zones under the influence of figures are involved. In general, archers are domi- megalithism, a trend in schematic and geometric nant and definite representations of women are rare. art developed and became the dominant form The naturalism of the human representation extends with the introduction of metallurgy (, from figures with legs and arms modeled with Bronze Age, Iron Age). Thousands of rock works certain anatomical details, even though these are are known in rockshelters and caves, but mostly subject to marked conventions with respect to on rocks in the open air. Only the most important bodily proportions, to linear figures, very simplified sites, the most original, and the most representa- and devoid of individuality. tive ones will be mentioned here. Their relative Only a few animal species are represented. chronology and their reciprocal influences are Basically, these are deers and wild goats and very difficult to establish. some bulls, horses, and wild boars, but these latter species are concentrated in certain regions, Levantine and Macroschematic Art which allows for some regionalization to be Levantine art is a manifestation of rock art whose established. Other species such as canidae, center is located on the Spanish Mediterranean birds, or insects are in very small number. side (Beltra´n Martı´nez 1968). The most signifi- Pictorial painting techniques used for animals cant sites are Prado de Las Olivanas, Val del range from solid infill with biangular perspective Charco del Agua Amarga in Aragon, El Cogul formulae for the legs and horns to parallel lines infill in Catalonia, Cavalls, Civil, Remigia, La Aran˜a or simple linear contours, with the exception of the in Valencia, La Sarga in Alicante, Minateda, head, but this latter technique is very underused. E 2608 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 5 Post-Paleolithic de las Olivanas (Teruel). (f) Solana de las Covachas art of Levantine Spain. (a) Cinto de Las Letras (Valencia). (Albacete) (Photos: V. Villaverde (a–e); G. Sauvet (e–f)) (b, c, d) Cingle de la Mola Remigia (Valencia). (e) Prado

In some sites, notably in Sarga (Alicante), lifted arms and are associated with meander-like Levantine art appears superimposed to other motifs finishing with some kind of hands. The graphic manifestations called macroschematic range of macroschematic art is limited to the which presents a clear relationship with figurative north of the Alicante province, a major focus of motifs of Neolithic ceramic, thus enabling the the early Neolithic. establishment of a Neolithic chronology of Levantine art. Macroschematic art is character- Schematic Art ized by the absence of figurative zoomorphic The so-called schematic rock art comprises paint- motifs and the predominance of human represen- ings under rockshelters and exceptionally in tations of a relatively large size, created with the caves and engravings on rock surfaces in the help of wide red strokes. They frequently show open air. This art spans more than three Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2609 E

E

Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art, Fig. 6 Post-Paleolithic Italy). (e) Domingo Garcia (Se´govia, Spain). (f) Tanum schematic art in Europe. (a) Los Letreros (Almeria, (Bohusla¨n, Sweden) (Photos: G. Sauvet (a–e); Sven Spain). (b) Porto Badisco (Pouilles, Italy). (c) Campo Rosborn (f) (Figure is licensed under the Creative Com- Lameiro (Galicia, Spain). (d) Naquane (Valcamonica, mons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)) millennia, from the early Neolithic to the Bronze The latest research suggests that these graphic Age. Its duration and geographic extension manifestations have a chronocultural framework explains the large diversity in technique, style, beginning in the early Neolithic (c. 6,500 BP) and and form (Fig. 6). finishing in the Chalcolithic (c. 4,000 BP). Schematic rock painting essentially consists Schematic Rock Paintings Schematic rock of drawings created with the help of liquid paints. painting is a figurative phenomenon that occupies The dominant colors are in descending order: red, practically all of the Iberian Peninsula and even black, and white, with different hues caused by extends to the southeast of France (Acosta 1968). conservation issues and/or saturation of the E 2610 Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art pigments used. White is only used as metal weapons (daggers, , halberds)). These a supplement to illustrate certain details. To very stylized and repetitive graphic representa- apply paints, any instrument producing broad tions (nearly 40,000 counted engravings) are strokes a centimeter wide can be used (the probably related to the seasonal cycle of transhu- crushed plant sprig, small wad of hair, or just mance, through sun worship or worship of the a fingertip end). The loading capacity of these bull (De Lumley 2011). technical processes is very limited, making it In Valcamonica (Lombardy, Italy), on the difficult to make lines of a certain length; this sides of a 70 km long valley, rock art was determines the form and conditions the usual practiced for over 4,000 years, which explains sizes to around 10–30 cm, the largest figures not its wide variety found in over 250,000 exceeding 50 cm. engravings. The earliest phase refers to the With these techniques and figurative means Neolithic scenes of everyday life. A second peculiar to schematism, highly stereotyped pat- phase seems contemporary to Mont Bego with terns based on simple linear features were similar motifs to the exclusion of corniforms. The represented: full-frontal human figures and side- greatest number of figures belongs to the most on quadruped animals, that is, minimal elements recent periods (Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and of identification. Next to these anthropomorphic even Roman epoch) and consists mainly of figures of varied typology and the animals often dynamic human representations (dancing and appear drawings resembling suns (stelliforms) in fighting, etc.). ancient phases and the so-called oculated idols Another very rich zone in rock art is in (idols with eyes) in the later phases. Scandinavia. In the region of Tanum (west coast We most often find schematic paintings in the of Sweden), rich in megalithic relics, nearly rockshelters, which easily allows daylight, or 10,000 engravings, engraved on slabs of granite, simply on unprotected vertical crags, standing are attributed to the Bronze Age, from the second out in the landscape. The lithology of mediums millennium BCE. Hunting scenes, agricultural is very diverse: and sandstone are pre- scenes, ships, and men armed with swords and dominant, but examples in the quartzite or granite constitute most of the iconography with outcrops are also known. Much more exceptional signs (cups, suns, spirals). Along the Norwegian are paintings in deep caves in complete darkness coast and close to the Arctic Circle (Alta), there like the Spanish cave of La Pileta (Malaga) or the are also many engravings. An early phase Italian cave of Porto Badisco (Otranto) with black abundant in animals (elk, reindeer, bears, whales) figures (coal in the first case or bat guano in the is attributed to a culture of hunters, while the second). However, the specificities of these two most recent phase is comparable to that found in cavities attributed to the Bronze Age mean that Sweden and Denmark. we must consider them as marginal in compari- All along the Atlantic coast, from Ireland to son to schematic paintings treated here. the Portuguese coast, a megalithic phenomenon has developed which is largely widespread in the Engraved Rocks from the Metal Age With the interior; it is, in this sense, difficult to separate it diffusion of metals, we encounter across Europe from Iberian schematic art, as shown by some large concentrations of rocks in the open air motifs (axes, daggers, halberds, sun signs, engraved by pecking, probably corresponding to snakes) that are found in both the megalithic places of cultural significance. funerary monuments, rocks in the open air, Mont Bego (Alpes-Maritimes, France), more caves, and shelters. than 2,000 m above sea level, was a place of The Atlantic coast in the Iberian Peninsula pasture between 2,500 and 1,700 BCE (the has large concentrations of engravings in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age). Agricultural open air. More than 500 such sites are known activities are illustrated (plots, plows, schematic in the region of Pontevedra (Galicia). There bovines called corniforms (horn shaped) and are granite rocks with schematic engravings Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2611 E attributed for the large part to an early phase in values (1979, Valcamonica and decorated caves the Bronze Age. The main motifs are geometric in the valley of Ve´ze`re; 1985, Altamira; 1994, signs (cup marks, concentric circles, spirals, Tanum; 1998, the Coˆa valley (and subsequently zigzag) and schematic animals among which Siega Verde) and rock art in the Mediterranean the deer plays an essential symbolic role (male basin of the Iberian Peninsula; 2008, 17 caves in cattle, bellowing males, hunted animals, etc.). the Cantabrian region). Cultural parks and the Men and weapons (spears and daggers typical setting-up of similar replicas today enable the to the Early Bronze Age) are rare. Some swas- control of public access to their exceptional her- tikas and horse riders could indicate a long itage, but irreversible damage has been commit- stretch in the Late Bronze Age. ted by vandalism and urbanization. The E Schematic rock carvings attributed to the conservation of the Coˆa valley, threatened by Bronze Age also exist in caves in Spain (Flint the construction of a dam, is a remarkable exam- Gallery, in Atapuerca, Kaite II in the ple, but cannot counter other irredeemable losses. complex of Ojo Guaren˜a) and in France In 1974, tens of thousands of engravings belong- (Les Fraux, Dordogne). ing principally to the Bronze Age, but some could have belonged to the Epipaleolithic, were drowned by the waters of a hydroelectric dam in Current Debates and Future Directions Fratel in the Tagus valley (Portugal). More recently, the same drama has been repeated in Prehistoric Rock Art and the Evolution of the Guadiana valley (Alqueva dam) on the Research Spanish-Portuguese border. The study of rock art has long been restricted to establishing patterns of evolution of forms and styles from a cultural-historical perspec- Cross-References tive, most often based on linear trajectories taken from the (formative ▶ Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern period, maturity, degeneration). Almost all Spain theories responsible for explaining the place ▶ Archaeology of Art: Theoretical Frameworks of rock art in prehistoric societies have ▶ Art Studies: Normative Approaches a functionalist background, because they view ▶ Coˆa Valley Rock Art Sites art as designed to solve problems related to the ▶ Iberian Mediterranean Basin: Rock Art functioning of society. As the processes that ▶ Mobiliary Art, Paleolithic manage and change cultures rely on communi- ▶ Portable Art Recording Methods cation tools, of which graphic arts form part, ▶ Rock Art Recording Methods: From their study easily came under the processual Traditional to Digital paradigm of New Archaeology in the 1950s. In ▶ Rock Art, Forms of the 1990s, post-processualism, born in reaction ▶ Siega Verde Rock Art Sites to the excesses of processualism, had the main ▶ Style: Its Role in the Archaeology of Art effect of bringing archaeology and cultural ▶ Techniques of Paleolithic Art anthropology together and taking into account ▶ Valcamonica Rock Art human beings. In the field of art, the individual artist, the creator, has finally been fully acknowledged. References

Conservation and World Heritage ACOSTA, P. 1968. La pintura rupestre esquema´tica en Prehistoric rock art is an extremely fragile world Espan˜a. : Facultad de Filosofı´a y Letras de la Universidad de Salamanca. heritage. Many European sites have been classi- ANATI, E. 2003. Aux origines de l’art. 50000 ans d’art pre´ fied by UNESCO as having outstanding universal historique et tribal. Paris: Ed. Fayard. E 2612 European Association of Archaeologists (EAA)

BAPTISTA,A.M.2009.O paradigma perdido. O Vale do Coˆa to all archaeologists and other related or inter- e a arte paleolı´tica de ar livre em Portugal [Paradigm ested individuals or bodies. It is fully democratic, lost. Coˆa Valley and the open-air palaeolithic art in Portugal]. Porto: Ed. Afrontamento. and is governed by an Executive Board elected by BELTRA´ N MARTI´NEZ, A. 1968. Arte rupestre Levantino full members of the Association. A Nomination (Monografı´as Arqueolo´gicas IV). Zaragoza: Committee ensures that the Board is representa- Universidad de Zaragoza. tive of the different regions of Europe and the BICHO, N., A.F. CARVALHO,C.GONZA´ LEZ SAINZ, J.L. different sectors of the profession. Its member- SANCHIDRIA´ N.L V. VILLAVERDE & L.G. STRAUS. 2007. The Upper Paleolithic rock art of Iberia. Journal of ship covers most European countries, but also Archaeological Method and Theory 14(1): 81-151. includes residents of all other continents inter- BREUIL, H. 1952. Quatre cents sie`cles d’art parie´tal. ested in European Archaeology. Montignac: Centre d’Etudes et Documentation pre´historiques (re´e´dition fac-simile´ 1974). The EAA was established in 1994 at an Inau- COLLECTIF. 2002. Las cuevas con arte paleolı´tico en gural Meeting in Ljubljana, , where its Cantabria. Asociacio´nCa´ntabra para la Defensa del Statutes were formally approved (Cleere 1995; Patrimonio Subterra´neo (Segunda edicio´n, 2010). http://www.e-a-a.org/statutes.htm). These stipu- DE LUMLEY, H. 2011. La Montagne sacre´e du Bego. Paris: CNRS Ed. late that the EAA was created: GONZA´ LEZ SAINZ, C., R. CACHO TOCA &T.FUKAZAWA. • To promote the development of archaeologi- 2003. Arte paleolı´tico en la regio´n Canta´brica. Base cal research and the exchange of archaeologi- de datos multimedia Photo VR. Santander: cal information Universidad de Cantabria y Gobierno de Cantabria. • To promote the management and interpreta- LEROI-GOURHAN, A. 1965. Pre´histoire de l’art occidental. Paris: Ed. Mazenod (e´dition revue et augmente´e par B. tion of the European archaeological heritage et G. Delluc, Citadelles et Mazenod, 1995). • To promote proper ethical and scientific MARTI´NEZ VALLE, R. (coord.) 2006. Arte rupestre en la standards for archaeological work Comunidad Valenciana. Valencia: Generalitat Valenciana. • To promote the interests of professional RI´OS GONZA´ LEZ, S., C. GARCI´ADECASTRO VALDE´ S,M.DE LA archaeologists in Europe RASILLA VIVES, F.J. FORTEA PE´REZ 2007. Arte rupestre • To promote cooperation with other organiza- prehisto´rico del Oriente de Asturias. : Con- tions with similar aims sorcio para el Desarrollo rural del Oriente de Asturias. The EAA has held Annual Meetings since the VILLAVERDE BONILLA, V. 1994. Arte paleolı´tico de la cova del Parpallo´. Valence: Diputacio´ de Vale`ncia. first conference in 1994; sessions cover topics varying from the interpretation of material Further Reading culture through theoretical perspectives to cul- LORBLANCHET, M. 1995. Les grottes orne´es de la tural heritage management. These conferences pre´histoire. Nouveaux regards. Paris: Ed. Errance. have been held in a range of different European cities: , Spain (1995); Riga, Latvia (1996); Ravenna, Italy (1997); European Association of Go¨teborg, Sweden (1998); Bournemouth, UK Archaeologists (EAA) (1999); Lisbon, Portugal (2000), Esslingen am Neckar, Germany (2001), Thessaloniki, Sylvie Kveˇtinova´ (2002), St. Petersburg, (2003), , c/o Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of France (2004), Cork, Ireland (2005) Cracow, Sciences (CAS) in Prague, Prague, Czech (2006), Zadar, (2007), Valletta, Republic (2008), Riva del Garda, Italy (2009), The Hague, Netherlands (2010), Oslo, (2011) and Helsinki, (2012). Basic Information The EAA has published a journal since 1993: originally the Journal of European The European Association of Archaeologists Archaeology 1993–1997, since 1998 the (EAA; http://www.e-a-a.org) is a membership- European Journal of Archaeology (EJA) based, not-for-profit association which is open (Chapman 1995;Pearce2002). It also publishes

Top View