We explain what rock art is, where it has been found and the techniques that were used. Also, its characteristics and importance.
What is rock art?
Rock art or more specifically rock painting, rock sculpture or rock engraving, is a set of prehistoric drawings which have been found in various caves or ancient stones. It reflects the imagination and concerns of primitive humanity.
These are some of the first cultural manifestations of our speciesThe oldest discovered rock art dates back to the last global ice age, around 40,000 years ago. The rock art is related to petroglyphs, sculptures and engravings from the same period.
Unlike other forms of prehistoric art, paintings They have been preserved in fairly good condition despite the passage of time.This is due in part to the materials used and in part to the protection provided by the natural support on which they are found, protected from erosion and wear.
See also: Archeology
History of rock art
There are no exact data on the date when rock art began to be produced.
Most of the time, calculations about its temporal origin are made through measurements of the carbon-14 isotope or other residual elements over time.
However, in the caves, grottoes and sites where the paintings have been found, they coexist materials from different periods.
Furthermore, sample contamination often leads to erroneous measurements. In any case, it is estimated that the majority were made between the paleolithic and neolithic periods.
Where has rock art been found?
Rock art It has been found on all continents except Antarctica.The main discoveries of cave paintings occurred in the highly populated regions of the Neolithic period, especially between France and Spain, in the region of Cantabria.
Another important case is the one found in 2014 in Sulawesi, Indonesia, which is estimated to date back more than 40,000 years. On the other hand, Blombos caves in South Africa are considered the oldest of all (around 73,000 years old).
Other minor deposits are found in:
- South Africa. Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg.
- Namibia. Twyfelfontein.
- Argentina. Jujuy, the mountains of Córdoba and San Luis.
- Peru. The famous Nazca Lines.
- Malaysia. Gua Tambun in Perak.
Types of rock art
There are several types of rock art, distinguishing based on the technique used to do it:
- Cave painting. By spreading substances along the surface of the rock with the fingers or with some tool, drawings are drawn and scenes are represented, generally hunting scenes, or impressions of human hands painted around and between the fingers.
- Rock engraving (petroglyphs). Using rocks and pigments, geometric patterns or ancestral shapes were engraved on the surface of a softer rock, using a technique similar to that of tattoos to generate bas-reliefs.
- Rock sculpture. They usually consist of reliefs and carvings made in stone by primitive chiseling with other harder tools, until pieces are removed and certain shapes are achieved.
cave drawings
The cave paintings are more or less homogeneous in terms of their subject matter. Those from the Paleolithic They usually display drawings of animals and lines. In the Neolithic, human figures, negative footprints of human hands and other representations of the environment, such as leaves, etc., begin to appear.
Most of the animals drawn on them are mammoths, bison, horses, wild pigs, deer and reindeerusually in the middle of a hunt, or wounded by arrows or spears. Usually one or two colors dominate, in shades ranging from black, red, yellow and brown.
Techniques used
The cave paintings They were all made with similar materials, despite being thousands of kilometers from each other. Pigments from charcoal, feces, blood and other body fluids were generally used.
Among the minerals used hematite, manganese oxide or mixtures such as clay were found. Some type of animal fat or oil was used as a binder for these substances.
These pigments (of organic or mineral origin) they spread themselves on the stone with their fingers or instruments such as bird feathers or pieces of wood were used. In some cases, the work was scraped with a stone or tool to create realistic and three-dimensional effects.
In the cases of sculpture and engraving, on the other hand, stones made of a more resistant material to sculpt the softer ones. Patterns or figures were printed on its surface or to sculpt it obtaining three-dimensional shapes.
Periodization
Four periods of rock art are identified:
- Paleolithic art. The oldest cave art, dating from between 73,000 and 12,000 BC, consists of prefigurative drawings, sometimes highly detailed and sometimes abstract, of naturalistic figures, usually bison or other game creatures.
- Levantine art. Generally located in the Mediterranean arc of the Iberian Peninsula, it is very dynamic and naturalistic, with figures located in the shallowest regions of the caves, generally representing hunting scenes with bow and arrow. They were drawn with bird feathers.
- Macroschematic art. Characteristic of the Neolithic period, it has enormous similarities with certain ceramic styles and is estimated to date back to around 6,000 BC. It generally represents human figures, idols or praying figures, and is associated with fertility rites.
- Schematic art. It represents a simplification of the style, with a technique that is not at all refined and a quick stroke, very different from Levantine art. This suggests that they could be signs, some indication of proto-writing or ideograms. It appeared at the end of the Neolithic, around 3,000 years BC. c.
Interpretation of rock art
It is difficult to know what role rock art played in primitive society. It is considered unlikely that they had a decorative function. On the contrary, studies point to totemic functions, that is, identification of the tribe and contact with a guardian animal.
Another probable function is that will be part of rituals to try to gain the favour of some deity or to attract good fortune in hunting. Their location in hard-to-reach places strengthens this hypothesis, as it suggests that they were located in a sacred or mystical enclosure.
It is estimated that these places were corners in which The tribe contemplated the history of their ancestors or left a trace of its passage on Earth.
Historical importance of rock art
The importance of these findings lies in what they reveal to us about the mentality of primitive human beingsIt is striking that he was as inclined as we are to the representation of his customs, his anxieties and his desires.
Similar to what happened many centuries later (and continues to happen), it is very likely that these representations had some magical-religious charge. They also offer us information about their customs, such as hunting bison, wild pig, etc.
Main rock art locations
The largest concentrations of rock art in the world are in:
- In Africa.
- In the caves found in the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa, also called uKhahlamba national park.
- At the archaeological site of Twyfelfontein or Ui-aes, in Namibia, where more than 2,000 images more than 3,000 years old were found.
- In Anglo-Saxon America.
- Within Canyonlands National Park, in the United States, is the Barrier Canyon site, which contains 4,000-year-old pictograms.
- In Ontario, Canada, there are engravings that were made between 1,400 and 900 BC.
- In Europe.
- In the Altamira cave, between France and Spain, perhaps the most famous cave paintings in the world.
- In the Pileta cave, in the province of Málaga, Spain, an archaeological site dating from the Neolithic was discovered in 1905, with paintings and engravings in the Franco-Cantabrian style.
- A magnificently well-preserved collection of rock art, more than 40,000 years old, was found in the Chauvet Cave, France.
- In Oceania.
- In Kakadu National Park there is a huge collection of rock paintings in ocher tones.
Rock art in Latin America
In Latin America there are multiple rock art sites. Among the most important are:
- In Lol-tún (Mayan: “stone flower”) in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, cave paintings dating from the Pleistocene were found.
- The Ichic Tiog cave in the Sierra Oriental of Ancash, Peru, contains the oldest human remains in the region, including cave paintings. Of the 24 departments of Peru, only two do not have cave art findings.
- In Peru, there are also the famous geoglyphs called the Nazca Lines, in the department of Ica, between the towns of Nazca and Palpa.
- In Uruguay, a cave painting site called Chamangá was discovered east of the city of Trinidad, with 43 cave paintings inventoried so far.
- Cerro Colorado in the province of Córdoba, Argentina, the most important archaeological site in the country.
- The Cueva de las Manos in Santa Cruz, in the canyon of the Pinturas River, shows paintings related to sites in Chile and Brazil.