Rock art and social geography in the Upper Paleolithic. Contribution to the socio-cultural function of the Roc-aux-Sorciers rock-shelter (Angles-sur-l’Anglin, France) from the viewpoint of its sculpted frieze

Bourdier, Camille

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.05.005

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Advances in geospatial survey techniques, increased availability of satellite and photographic imagery and the development of spatial datasets for mapping and analysis open up new possibilities for studying rock art and human behaviour in its wider environmental contexts, particularly in remote locations (e.g. McClure, Balaguer & Auban 2008; Aubry, Luis & Dimuccio 2013;Bourdier 2013;Jennings et al 2013;Olsen 2013). Such techniques have great potential to build on existing rock-art research in Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally focused on the interpretation of rock-art styles and inscriptions rather than on the systematic evaluation of rock-art panels from a landscape perspective (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution geospatial surveying techniques provide new insights into rock-art landscapes at Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia

Jennings

Parton

Groucutt

et al. 2014

Arabian Archaeol Epigr

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Many parts of the Arabian Peninsula contain rock art that has received minimal archaeological attention or has not yet been thoroughly surveyed. In 2001 an extensive rock-art complex called Shuwaymis, Ha'il Province, Saudi Arabia was brought to the attention of the Saudi General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. This paper sets out the results of the first high-resolution geospatial mapping and recording of rock art at this remote site. The research saw the innovative use of a differential GPS to record rock-art panels to within 5 mm of accuracy at the site of Shuwaymis-2, the first time that such technology has been used to record rock art in the Arabian Peninsula. With such technology it was possible to show which of eighty-three late prehistoric rock-art panels surveyed were in their original position and which had fallen, and to demonstrate that there was spatial homogeneity of rock-art styles and composition across the site. The mapping recorded multiple panels of cattle, ibex, equid, large cat and other animals. The depictions of lions and cattle in particular indicate that the rock art must have been engraved no later than the early Holocene humid phase (c.10-6 ka BP).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-resolution geospatial surveying techniques provide new insights into rock-art landscapes at Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia

Jennings

Parton

Groucutt

et al. 2014

Arabian Archaeol Epigr

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show abstract

“…Taborin, 1994) resources, and an increasing number of studies are linking motifs in caves (e.g. Bourdier, 2013). Social landscape archaeology has a very rich history in Western Europe (Thomas, 1993;Bradley, 2000;Bender et al, 2007;Darvill, 2008;Barrett & Ko, 2009;and Tilley, 2010 form a small sample of this literature), but the vast majority of the work has focused on the Neolithic and later, especially interpreting standing stones and passage tombs (but see Gouletquer et al, 1996;Zvelebil & Jordan, 1999, for Mesolithic examples).…”

Section: Landscape Archaeology and Pleistocene Europementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sometimes their relative placement within a site is considered (e.g. Sauvet, 1994;Sauvet & Wlordarczyk, 1999;Bourdier, 2013), but the cave is often presented as a container for the images, a gallery, rather than as integrated with the practices therein (Bégouën et al, 2009(Bégouën et al, , 2014. Imagery dominates the discussion of symbolic behaviours, to the extent that they are seen as the strongest material evidence of symbolism.…”

Section: The Problem Of the Site As The Unit Of Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Landscapes of the Late Palaeolithic: Marking Meaning in the Magdalenian

Sterling

2015

Eur. j. archaeol.

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Landscape archaeologies that pay attention to cultural importance of place have become increasingly common in recent years in many parts of the world. However, these approaches have largely failed to make inroads into Pleistocene European hunter–gatherer archaeology. This is partly due to a focus on economics, survival, and neo-liberal assumptions of ‘efficiency’ in early modern human behaviour. With evidence of lithic use drawn from cave sites, survey, and open-air excavation, I argue that Upper Paleolithic hunter–gatherers left clues to the importance of certain places in the landscape. Lithic tools in particular have been undervalued for their symbolic meaning, which goes well beyond style and ethnicity models. Raw material has been seen as evidence of mobility and trade, but possible cultural motives behind material choices have been downplayed or ignored.

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“…the plurality of horizontal axes (Criado Boado & Penedo Romero 1993); anamorphosis (Aujoulat 1985;Groenen 2000); and the shared gaze (Geneste et al 2004). Selection of different viewing distances will also alter the viewer's perception of specific images (Bourdier 2013;Bourdier et al 2017). Anamorphosis in particular is directly related to the issue of multiple viewpoints, as it appears distorted in frontal view but resolves into proper proportions only from a specific viewpoint.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper Palaeolithic Installation Art: Topography, Distortion, Animation and Participation in the Production and Experience of Cantabrian Cave Art

Sakamoto¹,

Pettitt²,

Ontañon-Peredo³

2020

CAJ

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The physical nature of cave walls and its impact on Upper Palaeolithic image making and viewing has frequently been invoked in explanations about the function of cave art. The morphological features (convexities, concavities, cracks and ridges) are frequently incorporated into the representations of prey animals that dominate the art, and several studies have attempted to document the relationship between the cave wall and the art in a quantitative manner. One of the effects of such incorporation is that undulating walls will distort the appearance of images as viewers change their viewing position. Was this distortion deliberate or accidental? Until now, the phenomenon has not been investigated quantitatively. We address this here, analysing 54 Late Upper Palaeolithic animal images deriving from three Cantabrian caves, Covalanas, El Pendo and El Castillo. We introduce a novel use for photogrammetry and 3D modelling through documenting the morphology of these caves’ walls and establishing the specific relationship between the walls and the art created on them. Our observations suggest that Palaeolithic artists deliberately placed images on very specific topographies. The restricted nature of these choice decisions and the fact that the resulting distortions could have been avoided but were not suggest that the interaction between viewer, art and wall was integral to the way cave art functioned.

show abstract

Rock art and social geography in the Upper Paleolithic. Contribution to the socio-cultural function of the Roc-aux-Sorciers rock-shelter (Angles-sur-l’Anglin, France) from the viewpoint of its sculpted frieze

Cited by 23 publications

References 19 publications

High-resolution geospatial surveying techniques provide new insights into rock-art landscapes at Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia

High-resolution geospatial surveying techniques provide new insights into rock-art landscapes at Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia

Social Landscapes of the Late Palaeolithic: Marking Meaning in the Magdalenian

Upper Palaeolithic Installation Art: Topography, Distortion, Animation and Participation in the Production and Experience of Cantabrian Cave Art

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