Palaeoart and Materiality the Scientific Study of Rock Art
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Copyrighted material: no unauthorised reproduction in any medium Palaeoart and Materiality The Scientific Study of Rock Art edited by Robert G. Bednarik, Danae Fiore, Mara Basile, Giriraj Kumar and Tang Huisheng Archaeopress Archaeology Copyrighted material: no unauthorised reproduction in any medium Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Gordon House 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED www.archaeopress.com ISBN 978 1 78491 429 5 ISBN 978 1 78491 430 1 (e-Pdf) © Archaeopress and the authors 2016 Cover image: Part of the Huashan site in Guangxi Province, southern China, the largest rock painting site in the world. Photograph by R. G. Bednarik. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Printed in England by Oxuniprint, Oxford This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com Copyrighted material: no unauthorised reproduction in any medium Contents Contents ......................................................................................................................................................................... i Relevant Issues for the Design of a Protocol for the Interdisciplinary Study of Rock Art ...........................................1 Eugenia P. Tomasini, Mara Basile, Marta S. Maier, Norma Ratto Superimpositions and Attitudes Towards Pre-existing Rock Art: a Case Study in Southern Patagonia ...................15 Anahí Re Pigments Used in Rock Paintings from the East and West of the Iberian Peninsula Analysed by X-ray Fluorescence: Analogies and Differences ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������31 A. Martín Sánchez, C. Roldán García, M. J. Nuevo, J. Oliveira, S. Murcia Mascarós, C. Oliveira The Material Scientific Investigation of Rock Art: Contributions from non-Invasive X-ray Techniques ...................41 Jillian Huntley, Clive Freeman Galamban Methodological Approach to the Materiality of Rock Paintings Based on Their Physicochemical Characterisation. Proposal and Reflections from Their Study in Chile �������������������������.......................................59 Marcela Sepúlveda Step Forwards in the Archaeometric Studies on Rock Paintings in the Bogotá Savannah, Colombia. Analysis of Pigments and Alterations �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������73 Judith Trujillo T. What Should We Do or Not Do for the Preservation or Remedial Action in Prehistoric Painted Caves? ................85 F. Bourges, P. Genthon, D. Genty, M. Lorblanchet, France, E. Mauduit, D. D’Hulst, E. David, N. Ferrer Forensic Replication Work with Australian Cave Art .................................................................................................99 Robert G. Bednarik, Yann-Pierre Montelle Experimental Rock Art Studies. Replication of Pictographs from La Primavera Locality (Santa Cruz, Argentina) .113 Rocío V. Blanco, Natalia G. Barreto Measurements and Replications of Hand Stencils: a Methodological Approach for the Estimation of the Individuals’ Age and Sex .....................................................................................................................................129 Natalia Carden, Rocío Blanco Time and Rock Art Production: Explorations on the Material Side of Petroglyphs in the Semiarid North of Chile ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������147 Francisco Vergara, Andrés Troncoso, Francisca Ivanovic Taphonomy of the Early Petroglyphs at Daraki-Chattan and in the Region Around It in Chambal Basin, India ....161 Giriraj Kumar, Ram Krishna, Robert G. Bednarik The Tribology of Petroglyphs ....................................................................................................................................171 Robert G. Bednarik Understanding the Technology of Very Small Cupules in Daraki-Chattan, India ....................................................187 Ram Krishna, Giriraj Kumar i Copyrighted material: no unauthorised reproduction in any medium Evidence of Collaboration Among Art-Makers in Twelve Upper Palaeolithic Caves ...............................................195 Leslie Van Gelder A Survey of Developments in Dating Australian Rock-Markings .............................................................................205 Graeme K. Ward A New Cold Plasma System for Pictogram 14C Sampling ..........................................................................................217 Marvin W. Rowe, Eric Blinman, John C. Martin, J. Royce Cox, Mark MacKenzie, Lukas Wacker Direct Dating of Bolivian Petroglyphs Using Indirect Microerosion Analysis ..........................................................225 Robert G. Bednarik Use of Theodolite and Photographic Techniques in the Recording and Analysis of the Geographical and Astronomical Entorno (surrounding) ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������235 Patricio Bustamante, Ricardo Moyano, Daniela Bustamante ii Copyrighted material: no unauthorised reproduction in any medium A New Cold Plasma System for Pictogram 14C Sampling Marvin W. Rowe Eric Blinman U.S.A., [email protected] U.S.A., [email protected] John C. Martin J. Royce Cox U.S.A., [email protected] U.S.A., [email protected] Mark MacKenzie Lukas Wacker U.S.A., [email protected] Switzerland, [email protected] A new low energy plasma system laboratory at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology (Santa Fe, New Mexico) for radiocarbon sampling has recently been established. Significant improvements to previous systems have been instituted, not only in the system itself, but also in experimental procedures. Multiple chambers for sampling have been added to increase efficiency. Dual internal secondary argon and oxygen storage chambers are added for quick refilling purposes. Masking procedures are also being tested to isolate specific carbon-bearing material from the rest of sample in the form of aluminium foil or alumina (aluminium oxide powder). Nuevo sistema de plasma frío para la toma de muestras de 14C en pictogramas Recientemente se ha desarrollado un nuevo sistema de plasma de baja energía para la toma de muestras de radiocarbono en el laboratorio del Centro de Arqueología de Nuevo México (Santa Fe, Nuevo México). Se han efectuado mejoras significativas respecto de los sistemas anteriores, no sólo en el propio sistema sino también en los procedimientos experimentales. Se han añadido múltiples cámaras de muestreo para aumentar la eficiencia. A fin de facilitar la rápida recarga se añaden cámaras secundarias internas de almacenamiento dual de argón y oxígeno. También se están probando procedimientos de enmascaramiento específicamente para aislar el carbono del resto de la muestra en forma de papel de aluminio o alúmina (óxido de aluminio en polvo). The development of radiocarbon dating in the mid- from Africa (Hedges et al. 1987; Van der Merwe et al. twentieth century revolutionised archaeological 1987). This African rock art date was followed quickly chronology (Libby 1955; Wood 2015). The combination by other investigators from several laboratories and rock of relatively simple theory and the ability to estimate art sites (Loy et al. 1990; McDonald et al. 1990; Russ et relative isotope abundances resulted in the generation al. 1990; Valladas et al. 1990). Considerable progress has of reliable age estimates for samples of organic carbon been made since those first radiocarbon dates, as well as from archaeological contexts. In the ensuing decades, the some of these earlier, and some later, measurements have power of radiocarbon dating has increased dramatically. not stood the test of time. Archaeologists are now much more sophisticated in understanding underlying principles, leveraging Plasma extraction that knowledge into a far more reliable selection of samples and interpretation of results. The calibration Introduced in 1990 (Russ et al. 1990), the plasma of atmospheric variation in cosmogenic radiocarbon extraction technique has been utilised for the past two levels has resulted in much improved calendric date and a half decades to obtain a few hundred dates on rock range interpretations, and isotope measurement with paintings around the world (see reviews by Rowe 2005, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) has reduced the 2009, 2012; Steelman and Rowe 2012). Over the next size of samples, allowing dating based on annual plant several years, four more generations of plasma systems parts. were built at Texas A&M University (Russ et al. 1993; Chaffee et al. 1993a, 1993b; Ilger et al. 1994b), and Accelerator mass spectrometry for carbon-14 dating was additional rock art dates have continued to be produced introduced essentially simultaneously from three different (Hyman and Rowe 1992; Russ et al. 1992; Chaffee et laboratories in 1977 (Bennet 1977; Muller 1977; Nelson al. 1994a, 1994b, 1994c; Ilger et al. 1994a, 1994b, et al. 1977), allowing the possibility of radiocarbon 1995, 1996; David et al. 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001; dating of rock paintings for the first time. However, it Armitage et al. 1997, 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2000c, 2001, was another decade before the first successful attempt 2005; Hyman and Rowe 1997; Hyman et al. 1999;