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Outputs (107)

The age of hand stencils in Maltravieso cave (Extremadura, Spain) established by U-Th dating, and its implications for the early development of art (2025)
Journal Article
Standish, C. D., Pettitt, P., Collado, H., Aguilar, J. C., Milton, J. A., García-Diez, M., Hoffmann, D. L., Zilhão, J., & Pike, A. W. (2025). The age of hand stencils in Maltravieso cave (Extremadura, Spain) established by U-Th dating, and its implications for the early development of art. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 61, Article 104891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104891

U-Th dating of associated carbonate crusts has been applied to date parietal art in Maltravieso cave, Extremadura, Spain. Known for its large collection of red hand stencils (≥60), one example previously dated to >66.7 ka was taken to suggest Neander... Read More about The age of hand stencils in Maltravieso cave (Extremadura, Spain) established by U-Th dating, and its implications for the early development of art.

Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany (2024)
Journal Article
Robitaille, J., Meyering, L.-E., Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Pettitt, P., Jöris, O., & Kentridge, R. (2024). Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany. PLoS ONE, 19(11), Article e0311302. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311302

The ~15,800 year-old Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, in Germany, has produced 406 engraved schist plaquettes which have been extensively studied in the past. The introduction of advanced imaging technologies, notably Reflectance Transformation Imagi... Read More about Upper Palaeolithic fishing techniques: Insights from the engraved plaquettes of the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany.

A newly-discovered stone pendant from the Upper Palaeolithic of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț (Romania) and its wider context (2024)
Journal Article
Cârciumaru, M., Nițu, E.-C., Otte, M., Pettitt, P., Cîrstina, O., Leu, M., Lupu, F.-I., & Ghiță, H. (2024). A newly-discovered stone pendant from the Upper Palaeolithic of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț (Romania) and its wider context. L'Anthropologie, 128(4), Article 103282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2024.103282

In 2022, a stone pendant was recovered from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian I) level of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț, Romania. Dating to ∼24,096-22992 cal. BP, it is made on an oval-shaped quartz/quartzite pebble of 29 mm maximum dimensions. It b... Read More about A newly-discovered stone pendant from the Upper Palaeolithic of Poiana Cireșului-Piatra Neamț (Romania) and its wider context.

What we know and do not know after the first decade of Homo naledi. (2024)
Journal Article
Pettitt, P., & Wood, B. (online). What we know and do not know after the first decade of Homo naledi. Nature Ecology and Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02470-0

It has been just over 10 years since the first fossils attributed to Homo naledi were recovered from the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa's Cradle of Humankind. The hominin fossil evidence for H. naledi displays a distinctive combination of pr... Read More about What we know and do not know after the first decade of Homo naledi..

The deep past in the virtual present: developing an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding the psychological foundations of palaeolithic cave art (2023)
Journal Article
Wisher, I., Pettitt, P., & Kentridge, R. (2023). The deep past in the virtual present: developing an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding the psychological foundations of palaeolithic cave art. Scientific Reports, 13(1), Article 19009. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46320-8

Virtual Reality (VR) has vast potential for developing systematic, interdisciplinary studies to understand ephemeral behaviours in the archaeological record, such as the emergence and development of visual culture. Upper Palaeolithic cave art forms t... Read More about The deep past in the virtual present: developing an interdisciplinary approach towards understanding the psychological foundations of palaeolithic cave art.

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain) (2023)
Journal Article
Wisher, I., Pettitt, P., & Kentridge, R. (2024). Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain). Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 34(2), 315-338. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774323000288

The influence of pareidolia has often been anecdotally observed in examples of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, where topographic features of cave walls were incorporated into images. As part of a wider investigation into the visual psychology of the ear... Read More about Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain).

An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar (2023)
Journal Article
Bacon, B., Khatiri, A., Palmer, J., Freeth, T., Pettitt, P., & Kentridge, R. (2023). An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 33(3), https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774322000415

In at least 400 European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira, Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens groups drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs from at least ~42,000 BP and figurative images (notably animals) from at least 37,000 BP. Sin... Read More about An Upper Palaeolithic Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar.