Testing recipes: an experimental approach to paint production processes in Levantine rock art (Spain)

Over more than a century, several proposals have been made on the composition and technical features of the pictorial recipes used by Levantine prehistoric painters. In this paper all these proposals are surveyed and tested through systematic experiments to determine the technical affordance of pigm...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Santos da Rosa, Neemias, Fiore, Danae, Viñas, Ramon
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/220659
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/220659
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Espanya
Pintura rupestre
Pigments
Península Ibèrica
Neolític
Arqueologia experimental
Spain
Rocks paintings
Iberian Peninsula
Neolithic period
Experimental archaeology
Description
Summary:Over more than a century, several proposals have been made on the composition and technical features of the pictorial recipes used by Levantine prehistoric painters. In this paper all these proposals are surveyed and tested through systematic experiments to determine the technical affordance of pigments and binders in different pictorial recipes. Experimental results were then used as independent analytical parameters employed as diagnostic criteria to systematically study an archaeological sample of nine sites located in the Maestrazgo region (Spain) and their surroundings. Results reveal that out of 112 experimental recipes, only 16 afforded the production of paintings technically similar to Levantine rock art.