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Paintings in Atlantic Megalithic Art: Barnenez; Pinturas En El Arte

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Paintings in Atlantic Megalithic Art: Barnenez; Pinturas En El Arte TRABAJOS DE PREHISTORIA 69, N.º 1, enero-junio 2012, pp. 123-132, ISSN: 0082-5638 doi: 10.3989/tp.2012.12083 NOTICIARIO Paintings in Atlantic Megalithic Art: Barnenez Pinturas en el arte megalítico atlántico: Barnenez Primitiva Bueno Ramírez (*) Rosa Barroso Bermejo (*) Rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann (*) Antonio Hernanz Gismero (****) Luc Laporte (**) José M. Gavira-Vallejo (****) Philippe Gouezin (***) Mercedes Iriarte Cela (****) ABSTRACT (1) (2) (3) panorama muy enriquecedor de nuevas lecturas para un arte megalítico europeo en el que habrá de contemplar- The use of technique is usually considered in European se la metodología pertinente para la detección de pintu- megalithic art as an indicator of the level of culture sophis- ras y su interpretación en los discursos funerarios. tication attained by a particular community. Traditionally, Key words: Megalithic painting; Neolithic; Brittany; it was considered that only the Iberian Peninsula is home Europe. to painted dolmens. The analysis of chamber H of the Barnenez tumulus together with some information scatte- Palabras clave: Pintura megalítica; Neolítico; Bretaña; red over the continent, prove that painting was part of the Europa. graphic programs in the most archetypal Atlantic sites, such as Brittany. A highly rewarding panorama appears for European megalithic art with potential new readings. The most suitable method of detecting paintings and interpre- 1. INTRODUCTION (4) ting them in funerary contexts must be reviewed. Characterisation of Atlantic megalithic art as RESUMEN a set of carvings in burial contexts, with the sole exception of the north-east of the Iberian Penin- La técnica ha venido estableciéndose en el arte me- sula, has become a commonplace in its technical galítico europeo como una categoría cultural. Solo la defi nition (Shee 1981). Península Ibérica disponía de dólmenes pintados. Pero Over the last few years, the Universidad de algunos datos dispersos en el resto del continente, junto Alcalá de Henares (UAH) team in the Iberian con los análisis que se aportan procedentes de la cáma- ra H del túmulo de Barnenez, certifi can que la pintura Peninsula, and Carrera and Fábregas’s team in the formó parte de los programas gráfi cos de los más clási- north-western, as well as occasional work on Por- cos conjuntos atlánticos, como es el bretón. Se abre un tuguese and Spanish megaliths have proven that paintings were not only seen on the dolmens at Viseu. Findings in Galicia, Asturias, the Basque (*) Área de Prehistoria, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. C/ Colegios 2. 28801 Alca- Country, Catalonia, inland, south-east and Anda- lá de Henares. E-mail: lusia have been adding evidence to the hypotheses [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] (**) UM 6566 du CNRS - Université de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu. 35042 Rennes Cedex. France. (****) Dpto. Ciencias y Técnicas Fisicoquímicas, Facultad E-mail: [email protected] de Ciencias Universidad a Distancia (UNED). P.º Senda de Rey (***) Chargé de mission “Valorisation des Mégalithes”, 9. 28040 Madrid. Comité Départamental du Tourisme du Morbihan. Allée Nicolas E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; Leblanc. 56010 VANNES Cedex. France. [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Received: 23-I-2012; accepted: 22-II-2012. 124 Primitiva Bueno Ramírez et al. that painting was part of the decoration of mega- there is schematic painting in natural shelters and liths, amongst others. caves with 1921 burials (Hameau 2003). The diffusion of painted graphics programs There are also fi ndings in the British Isles, points to issues of varying importance. Among with Breuil and Macalister’s reference to pigment those we wish to examine in this short paper is on the Loughcrew monument. Also, there is the the idea of carving as an expression of Atlantic possible painting on the Calve dolmen (O’Sullivan art as opposed to paintings, which is an expres- 2006: 667) or that currently being analysed by sion of Mediterranean art. We consider this to be Scarre at the Dehus dolmen in Guernsey (per- an untenable dichotomy in view of the our cur- sonal comm.). Bradley et al. (2000: 54) in his rently available data (Bueno et al. 2008). study on incisions in decorations on megaliths in The old hypothesis splits the Iberian Peninsula Orkney indicate a possibility that these were fi n- into two – those areas related to expansion of the ished by painting, as happened in the Iberian neolithic Spanish Levant area and those connect- Peninsula. Documentation from work with infra- ed to the Atlantic area. Thus, this defi nes mega- red rays on the link between incision and red lithic art as a coastal and Galician-Portuguese paint on the Maes Howe dolmen is an over- manifestation with a few sporadic and late sallies whelming argument (Bradley et al. 2000: Fig. 11) inland. This theory envolves to the concept of a More proof is yielded by the Orkneys where barrier between painting and carving which, paintings have been found in dwelling sites, such strangely enough, coincided with the political as Skara Brae and Brodgar Ness (Card et al. border with Portugal. Some evidence from recent 2007; Smith 2010). years allowed dissent over some pronounced ab- However, it is true that Brittany, the area that sence (Sanches 1997), and therefore, the last bar- defi nes the essence of Atlantic megalithic art, rier between painting and carving was moved to remained a stronghold of carvings. It contains the lay between Galicia and Portugal (Bradley and best-known examples used to establish the se- Fábregas 1999). Data on painting and carving in quences of megalithic art in Europe. Our know- the interior of megaliths found in territories char- ledge of some of these monuments leads us to acterised by open-air carvings and paintings only suspect that painting can be found in Brittany. started to make these solid barriers crumble (Bue- Thus, Gavrinis’ spectacular decoration of carved no et al. 2009a; Bueno et al. 2009b). circular motifs seems to clearly show an evident The situation of megalithic art in Europe is not chiaroscuro between the wide line engraving and much different from that of the Iberian Peninsula. the false low relief, which was probably white Paintings have not been acknowledged in Euro- with raised areas painted in black. We do not pean megaliths because the historiographical trad- deny that the troughs may have been covered ition denied their existence and specifi c methodol- with red paint, although the remains seen today ogy were not implemented to discover them. Some must be analysed to rule out recent interventions years ago, we suggested that the supposed absence (Cassen personal comm.). The relationship of this of painting on European megaliths was as fl awed technique with examples from the south of the as the supposed absence of paintings on megaliths Iberian Peninsula from where we have analysed from anywhere in the Iberian Peninsula but the data from pictorial applications – dolmen 19 at north-west (Bueno and Balbín 2002: 611). Montefrío, the Bobadilla stela and the Gorafe There were references to painting on German stela (Bueno et al. 2009c), leads us to suspect that megaliths (Müller 1997), and French megaliths. Gavrinis’ troughs were painted with black pig- The most typical were the black paintings associ- ment and also red pigment. The Goërem dolmen ated with some “goddesses” of the hypogea of the in Gavres (L’Helgouach 1970) whose layout as a Marne (Villes 1997). Data on red paint on mega- passage at right-angles is a reminder of some of lithic uprights (Devignes 1996: 138; Devignes those documented in megalithic art in Huelva, 1998a, b) and on stelae in the south of France has also seems of interest. been recorded (Gutherz et al. 1998; Hasler 1998). Another monument where painting might be The spread of megalithic art in the area may be found is Barnenez. Apart from its impressive wider, as suggested by the documented presence architecture, the known chronology places it as of colorants in recent archaeological excavations one of the oldest example of megalithic art in the (Beyneix 2007). As with the Iberian Peninsula, world, and some of its chambers house important Trab. Prehist., 69, N.º 1, enero-junio 2012, pp. 123-132, ISSN: 0082-5638 doi: 10.3989/tp.2012.12083 Paintings in Atlantic Megalithic Art: Barnenez 125 Fig. 1. Locations of painting on Iberian and European megaliths. The detail shows dolmens in Brittany mentioned in the text. carvings and sculptures (Giot 1987). The fi rst A thorough visual analysis with lights (1) data obtained from samples from Barnenez seem which provides initial evidence is complemented to us to be suffi ciently signifi cant to give this by a wide range of photographic techniques avail- information (Fig. 1). able these days. We take photographs with vari- ous lights and fi lters on the same image in order to maximise the chance of reading pigments and 2. WORKING METHODOLOGY carvings. Experience in detecting painting and carving helps when performing this type of work, Our team is developing documentations on megalithic art always using photography. To this (1) We combine led lights 9430 and 9440 Remote Area end, we use several techniques based on complete Lighting System Peli, with incandescent spotlights and screens respect for the supports. This means not using of multidirectional fl uorescent lamps. This is to intensify the direct light which is what helps us to see the painting, but it has plastics or other elements for direct tracing which, to be combined with warmer tones, and so incandescent lamps in any case, are quite unnecessary. are used. Trab. Prehist., 69, N.º 1, enero-junio 2012, pp. 123-132, ISSN: 0082-5638 doi: 10.3989/tp.2012.12083 126 Primitiva Bueno Ramírez et al.
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