A critical assessment of the potential and limitations of physicochemical analysis to advance knowledge on Levantine rock art

Characterizing the pigments and paints of prehistoric artists

“…In the last few decades, interdisciplinary approaches to the archaeology of colour have been also applied to the characterization of pigments used for rock art production in prehistoric times, which are the focus of our research (Domingo et al 2021). This particular topic faces more challenges than the study of other archaeological pigments since rock art sampling entails compromising the integrity of ancient works of art often protected and listed in the different National Heritage acts (e.g.…”

“…Over the last three decades, archaeometric approaches have highly increased our knowledge of prehistoric pigments used both in caves and in open-air rock shelters and boulders worldwide to create the first masterpieces of the history of art (Salomon et al 2008;Menu 2009;de Balbín Behrmann and Alcolea González 2009;Aubert et al 2014;Chalmin and Huntley 2017;Stuart and Thomas 2017;Domingo et al 2021;Gallinaro and Zerboni 2021;Sepúlveda 2021). The identification of the archaeological pigments and their sources (e.g.…”

“…A similar analytical approach can be also applied to the study of prehistoric portable art. A complete description of the commonest laboratory and portable analytical methods used in archaeological and cultural heritage research can be found in Pollard et al (2008), Nigra et al (2015), Madariagara (2015), Vandenabeele and Donais (2016), Bersani and Lottici (2016), Brunetti et al (2016), while their specific application to the characterization of prehistoric rock art pigments worldwide can be obtained in Vignaud et al (2006), Menu (2009), Aubert et al (2014), Chalmin and Huntley (2017), Stuart and Thomas (2017), Sepúlveda (2021), Gallinaro and Zerboni (2021), Domingo et al (2021), Hernanz and Gavira-Vallejo (2021), to name a few. It is worth mentioning that the analytical approaches and the scientific methods used in the study of rock art pigments have changed over the last 30 years, following and adapting to the contemporary technological advances that occurred in the field of portable spectroscopic analytical instruments.…”

“…Iron-based oxides and hydroxides compose red pigments, among which haematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) is the most frequently identified in the Palaeolithic and post-Palaeolithic rock art record all over the world (Chalmin et al 2003;Vignaud et al 2006;Salomon et al 2008;Menu 2009;de Balbín Behrmann and Alcolea González 2009;Chalmin and Huntley 2017;Aubert et al 2014;Stuart and Thomas 2017;Gallinaro and Zerboni 2021;Domingo et al 2021;Sepúlveda 2021, among others). Haematite is a Fe (III) oxide highly widespread in rocks and soils (Fig.…”

“…Black prehistoric paintings have been produced with two different classes of natural pigments. Organic blacks, characterized by carbon-based pigments, mainly in the form of charcoal or soot, and mineral blacks, based on manganese oxides/hydroxides, are the principal components identified in black pictographs worldwide (Chalmin et al 2003;Vignaud et al 2006;Salomon et al 2008;de Balbín Behrmann and Alcolea González 2009;Menu 2009;Chalmin and Huntley 2017;Stuart and Thomas 2017;Gallinaro and Zerboni 2021;Domingo et al 2021;Sepúlveda 2021). In nature, carbonaceous matter can be found as geological deposits of graphite, coal, etc., but disordered and heterogeneous amorphous carbonaceous matters like charcoal or soot can be made by firing organic substances including wood or bone (Coccato et al 2015).…”