The Easternmost European Palaeolithic Artists: Iconography and Graphic Features at Kapova Cave (Southern Urals, Russia)

Ruiz-Redondo, Aitor; Yanovskaya, Katherin; Житенев, В.С.

doi:10.1007/s41982-020-00065-2

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

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“…However, despite the work of generations of researchers, many questions concerning the origin, chronology, technology, function, and meaning of Paleolithic art remain open. Research conducted over the last two decades has focused on the earliest instances of graphic representation (3,4), the interdisciplinary analyses of key cave sites (5)(6)(7)(8), the study of open-air sites (9)(10)(11), the presentation of new discoveries (12)(13)(14), and the dating of the earliest instances of cave painting (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21).…”

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confidence: 99%

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

Martí

Zilhão

d’Errico

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Cueva de Ardales in Málaga, Spain, is one of the richest and best-preserved Paleolithic painted caves of southwestern Europe, containing over a thousand graphic representations. Here, we study the red pigment in panel II.A.3 of “Sala de las Estrellas,” dated by U-Th to the Middle Paleolithic, to determine its composition, verify its anthropogenic nature, infer the associated behaviors, and discuss their implications. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, we analyzed a set of samples from the panel and compared them to natural coloring materials collected from the floor and walls of the cave. The conspicuously different texture and composition of the geological samples indicates that the pigments used in the paintings do not come from the outcrops of colorant material known in the cave. We confirm that the paintings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the paint is consistent with the artistic activity being recurrent. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that Neanderthals symbolically used these paintings and the large stalagmitic dome harboring them over an extended time span.

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confidence: 99%

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

Martí

Zilhão

d’Errico

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Rhythms in Stone: Revealing and Augmenting the Human Presence in Mesolithic Rock Art

Gheorghiu

Ştefan²,

Moţăianu

et al. 2022

Springer Series on Cultural Computing

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‘Out of Franco-Cantabria’: The Globalization of Pleistocene Rock Art

Ruiz-Redondo

2024

Deep-Time Images in the Age of Globalization

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Since the second half of the twentieth century, globalization has transformed archaeology into a ‘geoculture’ (using Wallerstein’s words) defined by the increasing circulation of ideas within a worldwide scientific community. This change has not only affected the ways in which new paradigms and methods are transmitted, but it has also significantly broadened the geographical boundaries of archaeological research. The example of Palaeolithic rock art can be used to illustrate the various dimensions of this transformation. In Europe, Pleistocene cave art was considered a phenomenon with a ‘core’ firmly embedded in the Franco-Cantabrian region and a ‘periphery’ which included some neighbouring areas, such as Southern Spain and Italy. Despite some discoveries in Russia (1957) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1973), this reductionist view remained unchallenged until the beginning of the twenty-first century. Non-European sites were often disregarded and reduced to the status of ‘outliers’ in relation to the central core area, resulting in the limitation, rather than invigoration, of research in these regions. However, the new millennium has witnessed a significant increase in the number of European countries with well-dated Paleolithic cave art sites, including the United Kingdom and Romania, among others. Nevertheless, the greatest shifts in the field of rock art studies globally have emerged during the last decade with: (1) the discovery of Paleolithic rock art in locations very distant from the traditional European ‘core’ (e.g., Australia and Indonesia), and (2) the development of systematic archaeological rock art surveys in areas outside of the ‘periphery’ (e.g., Southeast Europe). Today, it is evident that Paleolithic rock art is a widespread global phenomenon. Despite this, a vast majority of teams and specialists are still focused on the Franco-Cantabrian region, and they seldomly develop research in ‘new’ territories. Hence, globalization has led to an increasing awareness of the ‘Franco-Cantabrian bias,’ but has archaeological research changed accordingly?

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The Easternmost European Palaeolithic Artists: Iconography and Graphic Features at Kapova Cave (Southern Urals, Russia)

Cited by 8 publications

References 23 publications

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

Rhythms in Stone: Revealing and Augmenting the Human Presence in Mesolithic Rock Art

‘Out of Franco-Cantabria’: The Globalization of Pleistocene Rock Art

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