To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)

[EN] The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first grap...

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Authors: Rios-Garaizar, Joseba, Rivero Vilá, Olivia, Salazar, Sergio, Mateo Pellitero, Ana María, García Bustos, Paula, Gárate Maidagán, Diego
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
Repository:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
OAI Identifier:oai:gredos.usal.es:10366/149789
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10366/149789
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Portable art
Middle Paleolithic
Early Upper Paleolithic
Taphonomy
Cantabrian Region
Microscopic analysis
5504 Historia por épocas
5506.02 Historia del Arte
5504.05 Prehistoria
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spelling To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)Rios-Garaizar, JosebaRivero Vilá, OliviaSalazar, SergioMateo Pellitero, Ana MaríaGarcía Bustos, PaulaGárate Maidagán, DiegoPortable artMiddle PaleolithicEarly Upper PaleolithicTaphonomyCantabrian RegionMicroscopic analysis5504 Historia por épocas5506.02 Historia del Arte5504.05 Prehistoria[EN] The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those generated by diverse functional actions or taphonomic processes (cutmarks, trampling, root marks, percussion scars, and use-wear). The results show that some regional Middle Paleolithic osseous objects display incisions that are neither functional nor taphonomic and whose characteristics are similar to graphic evidence attributed to Neandertals in Europe and the Near East. In turn, the first portable art produced by Homo sapiens in the Cantabrian Spain seems to be limited mostly to linear signs, and no figurative representation can be recognized until the Gravettian. This appears to indicate a particular idiosyncrasy of the region in the Early Upper Paleolithic, which, in comparison with other regions such as south-west France and the Swabian Jura, shows a later and less abundant production of portable art.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. The study presented in this paper was funded by the research project of the Spanish Science Ministry “Learning and developing artistic skills in anatomically modern humans: a multidisciplinary approach”Publicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCLESpringerlink202220222021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10366/149789reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamancainstname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)InglésHAR2017-87739-PAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:gredos.usal.es:10366/1497892026-06-07T06:28:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
title To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
spellingShingle To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
Rios-Garaizar, Joseba
Portable art
Middle Paleolithic
Early Upper Paleolithic
Taphonomy
Cantabrian Region
Microscopic analysis
5504 Historia por épocas
5506.02 Historia del Arte
5504.05 Prehistoria
title_short To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
title_full To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
title_fullStr To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
title_full_unstemmed To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
title_sort To be or not to be: reassessing the origins of portable art in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Rios-Garaizar, Joseba
Rivero Vilá, Olivia
Salazar, Sergio
Mateo Pellitero, Ana María
García Bustos, Paula
Gárate Maidagán, Diego
author Rios-Garaizar, Joseba
author_facet Rios-Garaizar, Joseba
Rivero Vilá, Olivia
Salazar, Sergio
Mateo Pellitero, Ana María
García Bustos, Paula
Gárate Maidagán, Diego
author_role author
author2 Rivero Vilá, Olivia
Salazar, Sergio
Mateo Pellitero, Ana María
García Bustos, Paula
Gárate Maidagán, Diego
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Portable art
Middle Paleolithic
Early Upper Paleolithic
Taphonomy
Cantabrian Region
Microscopic analysis
5504 Historia por épocas
5506.02 Historia del Arte
5504.05 Prehistoria
topic Portable art
Middle Paleolithic
Early Upper Paleolithic
Taphonomy
Cantabrian Region
Microscopic analysis
5504 Historia por épocas
5506.02 Historia del Arte
5504.05 Prehistoria
description [EN] The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those generated by diverse functional actions or taphonomic processes (cutmarks, trampling, root marks, percussion scars, and use-wear). The results show that some regional Middle Paleolithic osseous objects display incisions that are neither functional nor taphonomic and whose characteristics are similar to graphic evidence attributed to Neandertals in Europe and the Near East. In turn, the first portable art produced by Homo sapiens in the Cantabrian Spain seems to be limited mostly to linear signs, and no figurative representation can be recognized until the Gravettian. This appears to indicate a particular idiosyncrasy of the region in the Early Upper Paleolithic, which, in comparison with other regions such as south-west France and the Swabian Jura, shows a later and less abundant production of portable art.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
2022
2022
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10366/149789
url http://hdl.handle.net/10366/149789
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv
Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv
Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv HAR2017-87739-P
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springerlink
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springerlink
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
instname:Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
instname_str Universidad de Salamanca (USAL)
reponame_str GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
collection GREDOS. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Salamanca
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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