Rock Art

The distinction between rock art and portable art:

It is common to find rock art on the walls of various outcrops made by ancient hunter-gatherers. There is also another type of art, which is present on objects that can be transported, which we call mobile art. These are, for example, incised or painted motifs on ancient sherds (see, for example, the incised pots recovered in the area of ​​the Chico river in the section corresponding to Ceramics in Lines of Research).

Techniques and motifs in rock art

  • To create rock art, hunter-gatherers used both painting and engraving.
  • In painting, we can distinguish between positive motifs (when, for example, paint is placed on the palm of a hand and it remains on the wall) and negative motifs (when, for example, the hand or arm is placed on a wall and paint is blown on it, thus leaving the outline) (see figures).
  • We do not know the reasons why hunter-gatherers painted or engraved the walls of caves. These may be related to their daily lives or to particular ceremonies. Given the disappearance of the authors of this art, it is impossible to access the reasons why it was executed.
  • Among the motifs, we can distinguish between naturalistic ones, which allow us to propose a relationship with an object (such as an animal, for example) and abstract ones, which are much more difficult to interpret (figures).

The chronology of rock art:

  • It is difficult to assign a chronology to rock art.
  • The analysis of the superpositions of different motifs and techniques allows us to assign a relative chronology to them. The work of Gradin and Aschero carried out in the Pinturas river basin has allowed us to tentatively assign different motifs and techniques to different periods.

  • The presence of different patinas on the same panel can also help assign relative chronologies to different motifs and techniques. Differences in patinas have, for example, been used by Gradin to distinguish various occupation phases in the Cañadón de La Flecha.

  • In some cases, blocks with rock art motifs have been found fallen on archaeological deposits that could be dated, so it is possible to assign a relative chronology to these motifs.
  • If the mixture used to paint the motifs contains organic elements – for example, charcoal or urine – it can be dated, although dating involves destroying a small part of the image. This is then a direct dating of the painting, which may be subject to contamination problems, which must be eliminated.

V. Durán analyzed the art of Cave 4 of El Verano and C. Gradin carried out the original studies at La Flecha.