Novedades en torno al núcleo rupestre levantino de la Sierra de Albarracín. El abrigo de Prao Medias (Tormón, Teruel)

Nuevo abrigo con pinturas

Delimitación de superficies regadas a partir de técnicas geográficas: aplicación en la cuenca alta del Guadiana

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Departamento de Geografía, 25-03-201

Novedades en torno al núcleo de arte levantino de la Sierra de Albarracín. El abrigo de Prao Medias (Tormón, Teruel)

El abrigo de Prao Medias, descubierto por L. Fortea y R. Canet en 2008 forma parte de un amplio conjunto de estaciones decoradas halladas recientemente en el término de Tomorón (Teruel) siendo la que nos ocupa una de las ma´s destacadas por la tema´tica contenida, grado de conservacio´n de las pinturas, conjuncio´n de motivos con diferentes tonalidades (rojo y blanco) y por la existencia de superposiciones

Un arte no tan Levantino. Perduración ritual de los abrigos pintados: el ejemplo de la Vacada (Castellote, Teruel)

In this paper we present four figures of the shelter of La Vacada, the stylistic characteristics and graphic conventions of which allow us to classify them as non- Levantine Rock Art. We suggest the possibility that these figures could belong to a proto-historic date with clear hellenistic-roman influence, emphasising the indigenous cultural and geographic context, which was as much celtiberian as Iberian.. We also analyse several decorated pottery fragments from Numancia and some iberian sites as parallels for the figures studied.En este artículo presentamos cuatro figuras dentro del conjunto del abrigo de La Vacada cuyas características estilísticas y convenciones gráficas permite descartar su pertenencia al arte levantino. Sugerimos la posibilidad de que estas representaciones pudieran adscribirse a época protohistórica ya avanzada con evidentes influencias helenístico- romanas, enfatizando el contexto geográfico y cultural indígena, tanto celtibérico como ibérico, al que se asocian. Se analizan algunos fragmentos cerámicos decorados numantinos e ibéricos como paralelos de las figuras estudiadas

Hanging over the Void. Uses of Long Ropes and Climbing Rope Ladders in Prehistory as Illustrated in Levantine Rock Art

Direct or indirect evidence of ropemaking are scarce in European prehistory. Only a few references to Middle or Upper Palaeolithic remains are known to us, with more examples towards the Holocene. The archaeological contexts of ropes offer little information about possible uses, as the activities they are used for are often archaeologically invisible. However, some rock-art traditions shed some light on potential uses, worth exploring. In Spain, Levantine rock art offers the best graphic examples across Europe showing various uses of ropes, including climbing. Starting from the recently discovered climbing scene of Barranco Gómez site (Teruel, Spain), including the best preserved and more complex use of ropes seen so far in Levantine art, this paper analyses representations of ropes in this art, as well as their varieties and diverse uses. Our study suggests that different rope-making techniques were used by Levantine societies, which we believe are indicative of a complex rope-making technology, requiring a considerable investment of time and efforts. It also shows a certain variety of rope climbing techniques and rope climbing gear, illustrating that both were mastered by Levantine societies. Moreover, a preferential use of ropes in honey-hunting scenes is observed

Portable X-ray Fluorescence analysis of Levantine and Schematic art pigments from the River Vero Shelters (Huesca, NE Spain)

The River Vero canyon (Huesca, Spain) contains an exceptional archaeological legacy with more than sixty rock shelters with cave paintings and forms part of the World Heritage ‘Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula’. This study presents the results of the in situ and non-destructive multi-elemental composition analysis of the pigments used in eight of the main shelters through portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF). Specifically, the cave paintings of the rock shelters of Chimiachas, Muriecho, and Arpán (Levantine Art); and Mallata, Barfaluy, Quizans, Lecina Superior, and Forau del Cocho (Schematic Art) were investigated. The red pigments, based on iron minerals, were the most abundant in all the River Vero rock shelters, with Fe contents in the 0.51–3.06% range. The iron contents of the paintings of Mallata B1 and I, Muriecho, and Forau del Cocho were higher than those of Arpán, Barfaluy, Lecina, and Chimiachas rock-shelters; and, in turn, these were higher than those of Quizans, pointing to noticeable differences in the degree of conservation. Black pigments, in the absence of manganese, were associated with bone char or carbon black. Through the phosphorus content, evidence is provided of the use of bone phosphates as a component of the paints, either as a filler or as a binder. Geological studies indicate that the detected gypsum is of external origin, probably associated with gypsum-rich atmospheric dust. The reported pXRF analysis of this large set of paintings may serve as a basis for future characterization studies involving other portable chemical analysis techniques

Arte rupestre en la comarca Comunidad de Calatayud

La falta de prospecciones sistemáticas en la comarca Comunidad de Calatayud determina, sin duda, la escasez relativa de conjuntos rupestres en este territorio. Hasta el momento, sólo se conoce un pequeño grupo de abrigos con grabados y otros dos conjuntos con pinturas. Sin embargo, el interés de los conocidos apunta a la plena inserción de esta zona en el rico marco rupestre que supone la Comunidad de Aragón. Especialmente relevante es el abrigo de Roca Benedí, el conjunto Levantino más occidental del arte Levantino, con claros paralelos temáticos y estilísticos de zonas geográficas como el Bajo Aragón y Maestrazgo turolense y castellonense