7 -  Permanency of the Painted Form ?

Session Organisers: George Nash (Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, England)
Aron Mazel (International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, University of Newcastle, England)
Hipólito Collado Giraldo

Synopsis

Throughout the world and transgressing all the major prehistoric periods the painted form has endured for many thousands of years.  This form has its origins firmly rooted in the Early Upper Palaeolithic (if not earlier), occupying different parts of the landscape. The painted form, usually an ‘indoor’ phenomenon is located in caves and rock-shelters and can be considered a stylistic statement that within the hands of a skilful artist would take only moments to produce.

In climatic regimes that are not conducive to the long-term survival of organic and inorganic pigments the mindset of the artist may have considered ways of preserving the image, especially if the rock-art panel was a long-term ritual site. Recent fieldwork, for example at the Saltadora rock shelter complex in SE Spain has revealed that the painted form has endured at least 6,000 years of human and natural attrition (Domingo Sanz et al. 2007).  

Although in some parts of the world superimposition is relatively common in others it is not and touching-up and re-painting is used, with several sites in southern Spain for example recording many layers of over-painting; in some cases using different coloured pigments to represent progressive trends in design (Beltrán 1982).

In the contemporary world where Western influences are commonplace, artists feel the desire to change and reform the visual narrative and the painted form is the obvious medium to do this. In both the prehistoric and modern Worlds, rock-art sites constitute special places and the imagery that is produced within these places reflect a unique narrative that is both rhetorical and visually striking.  Based on the degree of permanency of the painted form within the anthropological record, did prehistoric artists value their art in such a way to consider it permanent; allowing the rules of grammar to extend beyond their lifetime?         

This session invites scholars to present and later discuss the concept of the longevity of the painted form. Was this imagery merely a statement of the ‘now’ or was there an effort to establish long-term meaning using imagery, panel vicinity and landscape?

References

Beltrán, A. 1982. The rock art of the Spanish Levant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Domongo Sanz, I., López Montavo, E., Villaverde Bonilla, V. & Martínez Valle, R. 2007. Los Abrigos VII, VIII y IX de Les Coves de la Saltadora. Monografías del Instituto de Arte Rupestre No. 2.

Resumos das comunicações - acesse aqui  /  Papers abstracts - access here

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