Galician Rock Art from the Past to the Present
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Yolanda Seoane Veiga Galician Rock Art From the Past to the Present 1. Introduction The first time we visited Sweden1 in 2002 to collaborate in the excavation and documen- tation of rock art in the region of Tanum2 (Bohuslän), we had a series of objectives, including studying in situ the characteris- tics of the rock art in the area in order to establish, from the perspective of Landscape Archaeology, the similarities and differences between the carvings from this area with those found in Galicia, as well as to learn from our experience in Sweden in work car- ried out around the carvings, to carry out an excavation some months later around a carv- ing in Galicia (Santos and Seoane, 2005). At the same time as reaching these objec- tives, our visit was also intended to be a way of publicising information about other petro- glyphs in the Iberian Peninsula (Figure 1) We are conscious of how little information is published on Galician petroglyphs at in- ternational level, despite being one of the Fig. 1. Location of Galicia in a European context. main focal points of rock art alongside the British, Alpine or Scandinavian variations. to the outside world. Until the 1990’s, the When we refer to peninsular rock art beyond publication of information on petroglyphs our frontiers, this is immediately associated from Galicia was in the hands of foreign with paintings from the Levant or Franco- archaeologists who visited our region and Cantabria area and Palaeolithic carvings from whose work made a substantial contribution Foz Coa in Portugal, both of which are clearly to its publicity at international level (Anati disassociated from Galician rock art in both 1964 & 1968). In 1969, 70 and 71 a major col- temporal and cultural terms. laboration project took place between the There is also a notable absence of refer- CeSMAP (Centro di Estudi e Museo d’Arte ences to rock art from the north-western prehistorica di Pinerolo) and researchers from Iberian Peninsula in the bibliography in for- the University of Santiago de Compostela eign languages, mainly due to the late start and Pontevedra Museum. As a result of this made by Galician researchers in opening up interaction a further series of articles was 5 published: García & Fontanini (1971), Bessone 2. Formal and chronological contextualisa- et al. (1972), Borgna (1973). In the 1990’s, tion of Galician Atlantic Style Rock Art Landscape Archaeology served to take the As a starting point, we considered it logical first steps towards introducing Galician pre- to define the object of our study: Galician history in general into Europe, and rock art Atlantic Style Rock Art3 leaving to one side in particular. In this case a series of articles all manifestations we do not consider as fit- were published in international journals from ting in with this style4. foreign researchers (Bradley 1997), Galician’s’ Atlantic Style Rock Art extends from north- (Criado et al. 1997) (Santos & Criado 2000) ern Portugal to the north of the British Isles, or from both (Bradley, Fabregas & Criado with practically identical geometrical designs 1994, 1995). In the twenty-first century in- found: circular combinations, spirals, and to ternational projects appeared, such as the a lesser extent, mazes and labyrinth shapes, Emergence of European Communities, giving amongst others (we have not included us the opportunity to promote awareness of cup-marks as they are practically universal Galician rock art in Sweden. As part of this symbols that were carved over a very long project, we would highlight the following period of time). We believe that Galician points: collaboration between Galician and Rock Art should be included in this group, Swedish researchers, leading to their par- as these geometric figures (Figure 2) form ticipation together with university students its iconic base, being the most frequently in training projects in both countries; the and widely found in geographical terms. Yet involvement of the cultural administrations at the same time, they share features with in both countries; and the organisation of other areas of rock art throughout Atlantic yearly workshops aimed at participants in the regions (MacWhite 1951 & Bradley 1997), project. The project culminated in 2006 with not only thanks to their formal similarity, the preparation of a book covering different but also for their chronological coincidence aspects of Galician and Swedish rock art. and their distribution, clearly associated with This article is a small contribution aimed at the coastline. offering an introduction to the most gen- However, other types of figures exist in Gali- eral features of Galician petroglyphs. How- cian rock art that give it its own ‘personality’ ever, and no less importantly, we also wish and provide information about its chronol to describe the current status of Rock Art and function, namely the figurative motifs in Galicia, what stage we have reached in found, such as deer, horses, weapons and terms of research, and which projects are human ogy figures. This natural repertoire, underway for its recovery and presentation which appears either isolated or in direct to the public. conjunction with an abstract theme, is what Fig. 2. The most frequently found geometric motifs in Atlantic Style Galician Rock Art. 6 Fig. 3. Typical figurative motifs from Atlantic Style rock art characterises Galician rock art, differentiat- halberds and shields. The only themes we ing it from other types of carvings found are able to identify are those related with along Europe’s Atlantic coastal regions. The warfare and hunting, representing the activi- most numerous designs are zoomorphs, deer, ties that were probably considered as most and to a lesser extent horses and snakes, as prestigious at that time, and we never find well as weapons, so called ‘idoliforms’ and scenes of domestic or daily life. Also, the anthropomorphs. Deer are the most widely- figures always show masculine attributes, represented figures (Figure 3); except for rare and there are no clearly feminine representa- occasions, all of the quadrupeds are stylised, tions. Galician Atlantic rock art appears to be characterised by having internal space, a dominated by an ideology that defended the lack of anatomical details, and because the social dominance of the warrior male. lines forming their extremities are a perfect continuation of their front and rear quarters Practically all of the rock art found in Galicia (Santos, 2004: 68). These animals often form is carved on granite, mostly on horizontal or a part of hunting scenes, where they appear sloping rocks, and rarely on vertical supports. injured by weapons, and often the reproduc- The panels usually function as an integrated tive cycle of the animal is shown: the rut and whole, in which the panel itself predomi- copulation. Weapons also form an important nates over the motif, although there may part of this iconographic repertoire, with have been later additions. (Figure 4). The certain models of daggers, short swords, distribution of the motifs is vertical, laid out 7 Fig. 4. Tracing of Chan da Lagoa panel (Campo Lameiro-Pontevedra) obliquely, with a main figure that is nearly 1200 B.C), as by analysing the typology of always made to stand out by being larger the weapons represented in the petroglyphs, and/or carved more deeply into the rock. such as halberds and short swords with tri- In some cases, particularly with figurative angular blades, we know that they are very motifs, there is some evidence of the use of similar models to those found in contexts perspective or depth of field, using different from the Early Bronze Age5, and can date sizes and juxtaposition on the carved surface these motifs with a minimum guarantee. (Vázquez 1997). Over the recent decades this group has come Technically, the carvings are characterised by to include weapons with other designs of the currently having a much worn groove with Atlantic Style, thereby bestowing them with a section in an open ‘U’ shape. The carving an identical chronology (Peña and García technique probably involved a pick, abrasion, 1993; Santos 1998 and 2004), and affirming incision, or a combination of several tech- that the use of Galician rock art could not niques, which in many cases may be verified have continued far beyond the second third by observing a series of characteristics, par- of the second millennium BC. (Peña 1992). ticularly the appearance of the grooves. Some authors attribute it to a period be- tween the third millennium BC and the first centuries of the second millennium BC (Peña 2.1. Chronology 2003), concluding that Galician rock carv- The absence of a direct relationship between ings were the work of some of the human the petroglyphs and archaeological elements communities settled in the territory during susceptible to being dated with a degree of this period, coinciding with the end of the certainty has led to controversy in the opin- Megalithic period and the early develop- ions of researchers studying the chronological ment of metalworking (Peña & Rey 1991), background of these carvings. not exceeding under any circumstances the However, it may be said that consensus has second third of the second millennium. This been reached in accepting that part of what hypothesis is based on the existence of a we refer to as Atlantic Style Galician Rock Art supposed break in the archaeological record, may be dated to the Early Bronze Age (2500- which appears to suggest that after the social 8 development and economic intensification part of an organised space which responds to of the transition from the third to second the concept of landscape held by the society millennia, a crisis occurred which led to an that made use of it. This research strategy interruption of this process of development, had already been used in the prehistory of and which led to inevitable social changes the British Isles (Bradley 1991) and was soon that led to the disappearance of the Galician put to effective use in Galicia6.