Rock art is a term that is used to define the art that was formerly made in the rocks and mainly inside the caves. Considering that the term also encompasses everything related to stone, it also includes carvings and all kinds of artistic representation that is manifested or has manifested using rocks or stones.

The study of this art suggests that the drawings and expressions are not only decorative expressions, but it is theorized that they were also used to communicate with other people. In fact, many of these works have been found in caves that do not have easy access and in areas where there are no indices that they were inhabited.

Origins and history

The use of art as a way of expressing oneself varies around the world and different manifestations have been found in different periods. It originated as one of the earliest forms of human (and even Neanderthal) expression before ancient languages ​​existed.

It has been quite difficult to determine the origin of the rock art because usually the caves and rocks are contaminated with material from other times (newer or older). Since the study used to determine the age of a rock is the radiocarbon one, the results it produces end up being quite ambiguous and are not reliable.

However, advances in technology have made it possible to find more successful results in this area.

In France and Spain alone, more than 340 areas have been found containing rock art and it is estimated that the oldest painting of an animal that has been found is that of a pig on an Indonesian island, whose age appears to be almost 35,000 years.

The oldest painting in Europe is almost 38,000 years old and was found in Spain. This date coincides with the antiquity of the first homosapiens found in Europe. However, some scientists claim that many cave paintings were created by humans' closest ancestor - the Neanderthal.

New studies (2018)

Update: A Science article published in February 2018 states that the paintings in La Pasiega cave (Spain) are from the Neanderthal and are more than 64,800 years old, 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe.

characteristics

The characteristics of rock art vary depending on the type of art to which you are referring. The three types of rock art that are categorized are pictograms, petroglyphs, and land figures.

Pictograms

Arte rupestre en la Península Ibérica

Se han encontrado más de 700 lugares en España con representaciones artísticas que se estima fueron creadas en la Edad de Piedra. Este arte, que consiste en la creación de figuras pequeñas de animales y humanos, es el mejor conservado de este período de la humanidad, no solo en Europa sino también en todo el mundo.

Fue un arte popular a lo largo de varios miles de años y sus representaciones más comunes se encuentran bien conservadas en las cuevas de todo el este de España.

Se refiere también a este arte como arte rupestre de la cuenca ibérica mediterránea, y si bien hay una gran cantidad de sitios ubicados cerca del mar, muchos llegan también hasta Aragón y Castilla-La Mancha.

Referencias

1. Devlet, Ekaterina (2001). «Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism» (PDF). The Archaeology of Shamanism. pp. 43–54. Tomado el 2 de Febrero de 2018.
2. Rock Art, (n.d.), Febrero 13 de 2018. Tomado de Wikipedia.org
3. Hirst, K. Kris. «Cave Art», (n.d.). Tomado de about.com.
4. Parietal Art, (n.d.), Noviembre 28 de 2017. Tomado de Wikipedia.org
5. «Cave paintings change ideas about the origin of art», Ghosh, Pallab. BBC News. Tomado de bbc.com
6. Parietal Art, (n.d.), Febrero 22 de 2018. Tomado de Wikipedia.org
7. Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin, (n.d.), Diciembre 21 de 2017. Tomado de Wikipedia.org
8. Rock Art of the Upper Paleolithic, (n.d.), Enero 30 de 2018. Tomado de Wikipedia.org
9. Tim Appenzeller (2018). Europe’s first cave artists were Neandertals, newly dated paintings show. Tomado de scincemag.org.