New views on old hands: the context of stencils in El Castillo and La Garma caves (Cantabria, Spain)

Abstract

Hand stencils are an intriguing feature of prehistoric imagery in caves and rockshelters in several parts of the world, and the recent demonstration that the oldest of those in Western Europe date back to 37 000 years or earlier further enhances their significance. Their positioning within the painted caves of France and Spain is far from random, but responds to the shapes and fissures in the cave walls. Made under conditions of low and flickering light, the authors suggest that touch—‘palpation’—as much as vision, would have driven and directed the locations chosen for these stencils. Detailed study of the images in two Cantabrian caves also allows different individuals to be distinguished, most of whom appear to have been female. Finally, the project reveals deliberate associations between the stencils and features on the cave walls.

Who painted that? The authorship of Schematic rock art at the Los Machos rockshelter in southern Iberia

“…This collective, social participation in the creation of Schematic rock art is similar to that previously observed for other Palaeolithic rock art traditions of the Iberian Peninsula, where artistic creation is also shared by different individuals (e.g. Pettitt et al 2014;Rabazo-Rodríguez et al 2017).…”

Cave acoustics in prehistory: Exploring the association of Palaeolithic visual motifs and acoustic response

“…The earliest motifs appear to be dots, discs, and lines (Pike et al, 2012), followed by hand stencils, usually in red (Pettitt et al, 2014). These we attribute to our "early" phase.…”

Does Archaeology Stink? Detecting Smell in the Past Using Headspace Sampling Techniques

“…1). Approaches have given far more attention to the "tangible" senses such as taste (Hardy et al 2012;Saul et al 2013), touch (Pettitt et al 2014;Rifkin 2009;Tringham 2013), sound (d'Errico et al 2003Morley 2002Morley , 2006, and vision (Hodgson 2008). Although smell has been addressed, it has remained mainly conceptual or theoretical (Day 2013;Pawlowska 2014).…”