Paleoart and Materiality

This book addresses the presentation of scientific approaches to the materiality of rock art, ranging from recording and sampling methods to data analyses. The issue of the materiality of visual productions of the distant past is addressed through various scientific approaches, including fieldwork, laboratory techniques and data analysis protocols.

This book contains a series of selected papers presented at two symposia entitled ‘Scientific study of rock art’, one held in the IFRAO Congress of Rock Art in La Paz, Bolivia, in June 2012, the other held in the IFRAO Congress in Caceres, Spain, in September 2015; as well as some invited papers from leading rock art scientists. The core topic of the book is the presentation of scientific approaches to the materiality of rock art, ranging from recording and sampling methods to data analyses. These share the fact that they provide means of testing hypotheses and/or of finding trends in the data which can be used as independent sources of evidence to support specific interpretations. The issue of the materiality of visual productions of the distant past, which in archaeological theory has attracted much attention recently and has stimulated much conceptual debate, is addressed through a variety of scientific approaches, including fieldwork methods, laboratory work techniques and/or data analysis protocols. These, in turn, will provide new insights into human agency and people-image engagements through the study of rock art production, display and use.

Relevant Issues for the Design of a Protocol for the Interdisciplinary Study of Rock Art - Eugenia P. Tomasini, Mara Basile, Marta S. Maier, Norma Ratto
Superimpositions and Attitudes Towards Pre-existing Rock Art: a Case Study in Southern Patagonia - Anahi Re
Pigments Used in Rock Paintings from the East and West of the Iberian Peninsula Analysed by X-ray Fluorescence: Analogies and Differences - A. Martin Sanchez, C. Roldan Garcia, M. J. Nuevo, J. Oliveira, S. Murcia Mascaros, C. Oliveira
The Material Scientific Investigation of Rock Art: Contributions from non-Invasive X-ray Techniques - Jillian Huntley, Clive Freeman Galamban
Methodological Approach to the Materiality of Rock Paintings Based on Their Physicochemical Characterisation. Proposal and Reflections from Their Study in Chile - Marcela Sepulveda
Step Forwards in the Archaeometric Studies on Rock Paintings in the Bogota Savannah, Colombia. Analysis of Pigments and Alterations - Judith Trujillo T.
What Should We Do or Not Do for the Preservation or Remedial Action in Prehistoric Painted Caves? - F. Bourges, P. Genthon, D. Genty, M. Lorblanchet, France, E. Mauduit, D. D'Hulst, E. David, J.-L. Zimmerman, N. Ferrer
Forensic Replication Work with Australian Cave Art - Robert G. Bednarik, Yann-Pierre Montelle
Experimental Rock Art Studies. Replication of Pictographs from La Primavera Locality (Santa Cruz, Argentina) - Rocio V. Blanco, Natalia G. Barreto
Measurements and Replications of Hand Stencils: a Methodological Approach for the Estimation of the Individuals' Age and Sex - Natalia Carden, Rocio Blanco
Time and Rock Art Production: Explorations on the Material Side of Petroglyphs in the Semiarid North of Chile - Francisco Vergara, Andres Troncoso, Francisca Ivanovic
Taphonomy of the Early Petroglyphs at Daraki-Chattan and in the Region Around It in Chambal Basin, India - Giriraj Kumar, Ram Krishna, Robert G. Bednarik
The Tribology of Petroglyphs - Robert G. Bednarik
Understanding the Technology of Very Small Cupules in Daraki-Chattan, India - Ram Krishna, Giriraj Kumar
Evidence of Collaboration Among Art-Makers in Twelve Upper Palaeolithic Caves - Leslie Van Gelder
A Survey of Developments in Dating Australian Rock-Markings - Graeme K. Ward
A New Cold Plasma System for Pictogram 14C Sampling - Marvin W. Rowe, Eric Blinman, John C. Martin, J. Royce Cox, Mark MacKenzie, Lukas Wacker
Direct Dating of Bolivian Petroglyphs Using Indirect Microerosion Analysis - Robert G. Bednarik
Use of Theodolite and Photographic Techniques in the Recording and Analysis of the Geographical and Astronomical Entorno (surrounding) - Patricio Bustamante, Ricardo Moyano, Daniela Bustamante

• Edited by Robert G. Bednarik
• Edited by Danae Fiore
• Edited by Mara Basile