Gravettian Figurative Art in the Western Pyrenees: Stratigraphy, Cultural Context, and Chronology

Ochoa, Blanca; García-Diez, Marcos; Maíllo-Fernández, José-Manuel; Arrizabalaga, Álvaro; Pettitt, Paul

Abstract

The timing and nature of the emergence of art in human evolution has been one of the more debated subjects in palaeoanthropology in the last few years, and one of the areas where archaeology has made impressive advances. Here, we discuss the first evidence of figurative art on portable materials in the north of Spain. After analysis of the stratigraphic contexts of all examples potentially of this age, which eliminated those of uncertain provenance, only three examples can be said to be Gravettian with a degree of confidence. We examine their stratigraphic provenance, the integrity of their archaeological contexts, and the absolute dates available for them. We then discuss their thematic and stylistic traits, comparing them to the wider database of material in the adjacent regions of the French Pyrenees and Mediterranean Iberia. We conclude that figurative depictions were scarce in the Gravettian of south-western Europe, in contrast to the relatively abundant examples of cave art assigned to this period in the region. If this is correct, we should nuance our discussions of ‘Palaeolithic art’ by considering that parietal and portable art had their own trajectories and functions, at least in the Early to mid-Upper Palaeolithic.

Citation

Ochoa, B., García-Diez, M., Maíllo-Fernández, J.-M., Arrizabalaga, Á., & Pettitt, P. (2019). Gravettian Figurative Art in the Western Pyrenees: Stratigraphy, Cultural Context, and Chronology. European Journal of Archaeology, 22(2), 168-184. https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2018.31

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Aug 14, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019-05
• Deposit Date: Sep 19, 2018
• Journal: European Journal of Archaeology
• Print ISSN: 1461-9571
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-2722
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 168-184
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/eaa.2018.31
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1319171