Santimamiñe, grotte

Le siteLa grotte de Santimamiñe est située dans la faille sud-est du mont Ereñusarre, dans la marge droite du bassin moyen de la rivière Oka, dans la municipalité de Kortezubi.La grotte s’élève à 140 m au-dessus du niveau de la mer, au sein des calcaires urgoniens du Crétacé inférieur. Le porche est actuellement d’environ 6 m par 3,25 et s’ouvre sur une salle d’environ 40 m de développement, formant une courbe à mi-chemin. Plus loin, un passage étroit donne accès à la première salle intérieu..

The Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian striated hinds on scapulae: Towards a new definition of a graphic morphotype

From the graphic point of view, the theme of the ?striated hind? is a true fossildirector of the Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian. Represented for the most part on scapulae in the case of portable art, it also possesses its correlation in parietal art. The C14 dates currently available do not allow any doubts about its chrono-cultural attribution. However, the concept of ?striated engraving?, referring to a technical/stylistic resource, has been used much more expansively to characterize chronologically a large number of representations of doubtful attribution. Therefore, this paper will define, from a precise study of technical characteristics involving both microscopic and formal analysis, the ?striated hind? morphotype, as opposed to the notion of ?striated engraving?, which will also be reviewed in the light of the formal and technical data available. This redefinition will enable us to address more precisely the dispersion across space and time of this graphic resource so characteristic of the Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian.The results presented in this paper have been partially funded by the research project of the Spanish Science Ministry “Learning and developing of artistic skills in anatomically modern humans: a multidisciplinary approach” HAR2017- 87739-P, lead by Olivia Rivero

Application of Line of Sight and Potential Audience Analysis to Unravel the Spatial Organization of Palaeolithic Cave Art

The endokarst landscape is the result of long erosion and sedimentation processes that have modelled an environment in which capricious forms abound. Despite being a hostile environment for human life, these caves must have attracted the attention of human groups from as early as the Palaeolithic. It is striking that many examples of rock art appear to be closely symbiotic with their natural support; nevertheless, it is difficult to confirm any relationship in the distribution of the decorated spaces, based on their morphology. Moreover, if we start from the hypothesis?widely accepted, but not demonstrated?that Palaeolithic cave art is a system of visual communication, the visibility of the art or the number of people who could be accommodated in the decorated sectors should be determining factors. In order to avoid making subjective appraisals when analysing these factors, we have designed a Python script with a workflow to work directly with 3D models of caverns using GISs, which can be easily replicated and edited by other researchers. Application of this script in the Magdalenian caves of Atxurra, Santimamine and Altxerri (Northern Spain) has allowed us to compare them accurately based on their visibility features. This has shown that in some cases, there may have been prior planning to enhance the visibility of some figures. In all cases, the groups of figures are located in deep and hidden parts of the caves, usually in sectors with limited capacity to accommodate people, which would be consistent with a system of restricted communication.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research was made within the project PID2019-107262GB-100 “Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Iberian Peninsula” (PI Diego Garate) funded by MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities); the four-year multidisciplinary study project (2016–2020) “Study of rock art in Atxurra cave” led by Dr Diego Garate and funded by the Cultural Heritage Service of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia; the two-year research project 021-KOI-2020 “Kobabes: kobazuloen dinamika eta labar artearen babesa” (PI Diego Garate), funded by Department of Culture and Linguist Politics of the Basque Government and the project “Ilunpetako sekretuak argiztatzen” (PI Iñaki Intxaurbe) funded with the grant “Barandiaran 2022” by the Jose Miguel de Barandiaran Foundation. I. Intxaurbe’s PhD research is funded by the grant PIF 19/196 (2019) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). M.A. Medina-Alcaide has a Fyssen Foundation postdoctoral fellowship

The Baltzola Cave (Dima, Biscay): a new ensemble of Palaeolithic parietal art from a classic site

Resumen: Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolítico en la cueva de Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia). Las labores de prospección y documentación allí desarrolladas por los arriba firmantes han identificado un modesto conjunto decorado en el que destaca un ideomorfo difícil de caracterizar. Pudiera tratarse de un signo encajable entre los ?claviformes cantábricos? (conocidos en cuevas como Altamira, Tebellín o La Pasiega B y C) o ?cuadriláteros con apéndice? (identificados en las de La Pasiega A o El Castillo). La rigidez de las tipologías hasta ahora planteadas para clasifi¬car a los ideomorfos, pudiera obviar la existencia de límites muy difusos entre unos y otros. Además es un signo hasta ahora inédito en el oriente de la Cornisa Cantábrica, que per¬mite correlacionar la cavidad de Baltzola con otras situadas en el centro-oeste cantábrico, pero cuya atribución cronológica precisa resulta difícil a falta de dataciones directas.Abstract: This work presents the discovery and subsequent study of red marks of Paleolithic style in the cave of Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia). The authors identify a small set of decorations that include an ideomorph that is difficult to characterize. It may be either ?Cantabrian claviform? (present in caves such as Altamira, Tebellín or La Pasiega B and C) or as a ?quad¬rangular sign with appendix? (identified in caves such as La Pasiega A or El Castillo). The rigid typology hitherto used to classify these ideomorphs does not take into account the ex¬istence of diffuse limits between them. The Baltzola marking is in any case a sign hitherto unknown in eastern Cantabria Cornice. The cave of Baltzola can be compared others in the west-central Cantabria whose precise chronological attribu¬tion is difficult in the absence of direct dating.Este trabajo se enmarca en el proyecto de Investigación “Aprendizaje y desarrollo de las capacidades artísticas en los Humanos Anatómicamente Modernos; un enfoque multidisciplinar” (HAR2017-87739-P) financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, IP: Olivia Rivero. El Servicio de Patrimonio Cultural de la Diputación Foral de Bizkaia financió las investigaciones en la cueva de Baltzola

Redefining shared symbolic networks during the Gravettian in Western Europe: New data from the rock art findings in Aitzbitarte caves (Northern Spain)

Abstract: The renewal of the archaeological record, mainly through the discovery of unpublished sites, provides information that sometimes qualifies or even reformulates previous approaches. One of the latter cases is represented by the three new decorated caves found in 2015 in Aitzbitarte Hill. Their exhaustive study shows the presence of engraved animals, mainly bison, with formal characteristics unknown so far in the Palaeolithic art of the northern Iberian Peninsula. However, parallels are located in caves in southern France such as Gargas, Cussac, Roucadour or Cosquer. All of them share very specific graphic conventions that correspond to human occupations assigned basically to the Gravettian cultural complex. The new discovery implies the need to reformulate the iconographic Exchange networks currently accepted, as well as their correspondence with other elements of the material culture at the same sites. Thus, we have carried out a multiproxy approach based in statistical analysis. The updated data reveals a greater complexity in artistic expression during the Gravettian that had not been considered so far, and also challenges the traditional isolation that had been granted to Cantabrian symbolic expressions during pre-Magdalenian times.The project "Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Iberian Peninsula” (PID2019-107262GB-I00) was funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain), PI: Diego Garate. I. Intxaurbe’s PhD research is funded by a grant for the training of research personnel PIF 2019) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Paleolithic parietal art in the Aitzbitarte V Cave (Errenteria, Gipuzkoa): a new diachronic set in the eastern Cantabrian Region

Resumen: El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las labores de prospec¬ción desarrolladas en la última década en el oriente cantá¬brico. Hemos documentado una decena de grabados situados en tres sectores profundos de la cavidad y compuestos por representaciones de bisontes y líneas. Las características for¬males de los primeros son específicas del arte gravetiense en el caso de los sectores A, C y D, y del Magdaleniense en el sector B. En ambos casos las convenciones gráficas presentan paralelos continentales, con el S/SO francés en el primer caso, y con los conjuntos pirenaicos en el segundo. De esta manera, en la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se identifican dos fases decorativas correspondientes a dos periodos dis¬tantes en el tiempo, siendo el primer caso de recurrencia gráfica reconocido en la Región Cantábrica oriental.Abstract: The Paleolithic parietal art of the Aitzbitarte V Cave was discovered in 2015, during the surveying work carried out in the east of Cantabrian Region. We have documented ten engravings located in three deep sectors of the cave. The engravings represent bisons and lines. The formal charac¬teristics of the bisons are specific to Gravettian art in the case of sectors A, C and D, and to the Magdalenian in sector B. In both cases, the graphic conventions have par-allels in the French record, with the French S/SW in the first case, and with the Pyrenean groups in the second. Thus, in the cave of Aitzbitarte V two decorative phases are identified, corresponding to two chronologically distant events. This is the first case of graphic recurrence recognized in the eastern Cantabrian Region.El estudio forma parte de los proyectos de investigación “Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Palaeolithic (B-Art)” (PID2019-107262GB-I00 IP Diego Garate), financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, y “Learning and development of artistic abilities in Anatomically Modern Humans; a multidisciplinary approach (ApArt)” (HAR2017-87739-P IP Olivia Rivero), financiado también por el Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. I. Intxaurbe es beneficiario de una beca predoctoral (PIF 2019) de la Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU). La investigación contó también con apoyo económico de la Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa y el municipio de Errenteria

The conquest of the dark spaces: An experimental approach to lighting systems in Paleolithic caves

Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system's characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information about this topic. Besides, we apply the estimated luminous data of a Paleolithic cave with Paleolithic art (Atxurra in northern Spain) in 3D through GIS technology to delve into the archeologic implications of illumination in Paleolithic underground activities.This paper has been funded by the research projects “Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Paleolithic in the Iberian Peninsula” (PID2019-107262 GBI00), PI: Diego Garate, and “Learning and development of artistic abilities in Anatomically Modern Humans; a multidisciplinary approach (ApArt)" HAR2017-87739-P, PI: Olivia Rivero, both funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (Spain). Besides, the University of Cordoba (Jose´ Luis Sanchidria´n, Economic Unit in Prehistory) has collaborated in the publication of this paper in open access. I.I.’s Ph.D. research is funded by a grant for the training of research personnel (PIF 2019) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Lastly, this paper publishes a part of M.M.A.’s thesis. This PhD was financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport of Spain (FPU fellowship 2014-2018)

Unravelling the skills and motivations of Magdalenian artists in the depths of Atxurra Cave (Northern Spain)

Atxurra cave has a decorated assemblage composed of more than a hundred engraved animal depictions. All of them are located in deep parts of the cave and most of them are hidden in raised areas, away from the main path. The main sector is the “Ledge of the Horses”, located at 330 m from the entrance of the cave. It is a space of 12 m long and 1.5 m wide, elevated 4 m above the cave floor. This area includes almost fifty engraved and painted animals accompanied by a dozen flint tools, three fireplaces, and around one hundred charcoal fragments from torches. This extraordinary archaeological record allows us to value the complexity of the artistic production inside the caves during the Upper Palaeolithic. Our study has confirmed that there is planning prior to artistic production, both in terms of the iconographic aspects (themes, techniques, formats), its location (visibility, capacity), and the lighting systems. Furthermore, the data indicates the panel was decorated to be seen by third parties from different positions and was expressly illuminated for this purpose. This evidence supports the role of rock art as a visual communication system in Upper Palaeolithic societies.The authors wish to thank the Cultural Heritage Service of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia for funding the 4-year multidisciplinary study project (2016–2020) “Study of rock art in Atxurra cave” directed by Dr Diego Garate. The present study has been carried out within the framework of the research project "Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Iberian Peninsula” (PID2019-107262GB-I00), PI: Diego Garate, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain), the research projet “Scientific virtual reality for the study and dissemination of the scenarios of artistic creation in Palaeolithic caves (RealCaveART)” (PDC2022-133124-I00), PI: Diego Garate, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union Next Generation EU/PRTR, and the research project “Creation and perception in Anatomically Modern Humans: analysis of the biological, cognitive and social skills linked to the production of Paleolithic art (ArtMindHuman)” (PID2021-125166OB-I00), PI: Olivia Rivero, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (Spain). I. Intxaurbe’s PhD research is funded by a grant for the training of research personnel (PIF 2019) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). M.A. Median-Alcaide developpes lighting system analyses inside the framework of her “A-Light” project of the HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 (101066376)

A new decorated gallery at the Alkerdi 2 cave (Urdazubi/Urdax)

En el marco del proyecto de «Caracterización del macizo y sistema kárstico de Alkerdi, de la cueva de Alkerdi y de su entorno de protección», se continúa con el estudio científico de la cavidad de Alkerdi 2. Las labores de prospección espeleológica del desarrollo kárstico de la cavidad han permitido localizar una galería decorada inédita en 2020. En un primer estudio se ha identificado en su interior un conjunto de pinturas y de grabados compuestos principalmente por representaciones animales de bisontes, caballos y uros, a los que se unen un panel decorado con vulvas y dos conjuntos de trazos pareados en rojo.Within the framework of the characterization project of the karstic massif of Alkerdi and its system, the cave of Alkerdi and its protected environment, we have continued with the scientific study of the cave of Alkerdi 2. The speleological prospecting work of the karstic development of the cave has allowed locating an unknown decorated gallery in 2020. In a first study, a set of paintings and engravings has been detected inside, composed mainly of animal representations of bison, horses and aurochs, to which a panel decorated with vulvas and two sets of paired red traits are adde

EAEko energia elektrikoaren eskariaren analisi ekonometrikoa

Lan honen helburua, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko energia elektrikoaren etxebizitzen eskaeraren analisia egitea da, eta azterketa honetatik ondorio zehatzak atera eta hauek azaltzea. Azterketa hau egiteko, ekonomiari aplikaturiko metodo estatitistikoak erabiliko ditugu, konkretuki metodo ekonometrikoak.El objetivo de este trabajo, es realizar el análisis de la demanda de la energía eléctrica de los hogares de la CAV, obtener conclusiones claras y explicarlas. Para realizar este análisis, emplearemos métodos estadísticos aplicados a la economía, concretamente métodos econométricos.The aim of this work is the analysis of the demand for electricity by families of the Autonomous community of the Basque Country, get clear conclusions and explain them. To perform this analysis, we use statistical methods applied to economics, specifically econometric methods