Not only Chauvet: Dating Aurignacian rock art in Altxerri B Cave (northern Spain)
Introduction
In recent years, our understanding of the beginnings of Palaeolithic graphic activity has advanced considerably. Since the ‘shock’ produced by the first dates for Grotte Chauvet (Clottes et al., 1995), new discoveries and analytical methods have enlarged the repertoire of parietal art in the early Upper Palaeolithic, to include such sites as Aldène (Ambert et al., 2005), Fumane (Broglio and Dalmeri, 2005), Arcy-sur-Cure (Baffier and Girard, 1998), Coliboaia (Clottes et al., 2010/11), Castanet (White et al., 2012), Baume Latrone (Azéma et al., 2012) and Tito Bustillo, Altamira and Castillo (Pike et al., 2012). At the same time, the chronology of ‘exterior’ ensembles in Dordogne and Quercy (Delluc and Delluc, 2003, Lorblanchet, 2007) and Cantabrian Spain (Gonzalez-Sainz, 1999, Garate, 2008, Ruiz-Redondo, 2011) have tended to set back the origin of this aspect of figurative expression.
The resistance of some researchers to accepting the paradigm shift suggested by the latest advances has fed a double debate that is still on-going. One of them is methodological, about the veracity and reliability of these dates (e.g., Züchner, 1996, Pettitt and Bahn, 2003, Combier and Jouve, 2012). The second debate is more anthropological, cultural and evolutionary, and concerns the great complexity of graphic expression already existing in the Early Aurignacian (e.g., Conard, 2003, Sauvet et al., 2008, Moro-Abadía and Garate, 2010). This aspect is of key importance as it completely disrupts a chronological arrangement of Palaeolithic art from the simplest representations to the most complex (cf. Leroi-Gourhan, 1965). Ultimately, even the possibility of ‘Neanderthal art’ has been proposed (Tejero et al., 2005, Bednarik, 2007, Pike et al., 2012).
This paper summarises the main results of the study of rock art in Altxerri B Cave and its chronological context. Although it has not been possible to obtain direct dates for the representations (they are all painted with red ochre and are not covered by layers of calcite), the chrono-stylistic approach has been refined as far as possible (with clear parallels in Chauvet and Arcy-sur-Cure) and 14C-AMS dates have been obtained for their closest archaeological context. The results indicate an Aurignacian chronology for the graphic activity in Altxerri B, and they are in fact the oldest radiocarbon dates for the context of European Palaeolithic cave art.
Section snippets
Archaeological and historical context
Altxerri Cave is located in the east of the northern Spanish coast, in the town of Aia (Basque Country, Spain) (Fig. 1). The present entrance (the original entrances collapsed) was uncovered by quarrying in 1956, and the first graphic representations were found in 1962. The cave system consists of three levels, connected by shafts and chimneys, where the modern entrance leads to the intermediate level. The important Magdalenian art ensemble in this level has been published in two monographs (
Results of the exploration
The nature of the only modern access to Altxerri B, up a vertical chimney about 14 m high from the intermediate passage (Fig. 2), suggests that when the upper part of the cave was occupied, an entrance that has since collapsed must have reached this level directly. This entrance may have been where an alluvial cone now enters from above, in the chamber where the bison vertebra was found. This would once have been the entrance hall of the cave. The cone of limestone boulders is now covered by a
Discussion
The results of the research provide arguments to propose an Aurignacian chronology for the parietal ensemble in Altxerri B.
Conclusion
Although it could not be dated directly (which has only been possible in Grotte Chauvet for the Aurignacian), the parietal art in Altxerri B displays technical, iconographic and stylistic characteristics that are typical of graphic activity in the Aurignacian. As they were found in a closed system, currently only accessible by a 14 m-high chimney from Altxerri A, and are clearly different from the Magdalenian art identified in that intermediate passage, it may be inferred that the ensemble is
Acknowledgements
The 14C determinations were funded by the Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi. We are grateful to the IIIPC for the technical and human resources provided. The results presented here form part of the project ‘Study of the parietal graphic manifestations in Altxerri’ authorised by the Regional Government of Gipuzkoa and the Basque Government, and partly funded by a FPU contract for A. R.-R. at the University of Cantabria. We would like to thank our colleagues Dr. David Cuenca-Solana, Dr. Joseba
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2017, Quaternary InternationalCitation Excerpt :However, this relative poverty contrasted with the abundant remains recovered from some sites in Central Europe, such as the famous statuettes from the Swabian Jura (cf. Conard, 2003; Floss, 2007). In Cantabrian Spain, one of the “classic” areas in the distribution of European Palaeolithic art, new studies of some major ensembles have assigned part of their decoration to very early phases of the Upper Palaeolithic (Pike et al., 2012; González-Sainz et al., 2013). One such ensemble is Altxerri Cave, located in the east of the northern Spanish coast, near San Sebastián (Fig. 1).
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2015, Journal of Archaeological Science: ReportsCitation Excerpt :Large variability in art contexts during the Aurignacian can be observed. There is portable art used for long periods of time, as in the case of the Jura Swabia figurines (Conard, 2009); cave art found in deep caves with no associated occupations, as in Chauvet (Clottes, 2001) or Altxerri B (González-Sainz et al., 2013); and artistic representations made on the rock walls of inhabited rock shelters and caves, as in Castanet, Blanchard or Fumane (White et al., 2012; Broglio et al., 2006). The pattern of immediate abandonment of a portable art piece documented at Cantalouette II is unknown in Aurignacian art, but has been widely documented in later Paleolithic art (de Beaune, 1996; Corchón Rodríguez, 1998, Tosello, 2003, 2004; Rivero, 2012; Ontañón and Arias, 2012).
Discussion: <Chronology of western Pyrenean Paleolithic cave art: A critical examination> by Blanca Ochoa and Marcos García-Díez
2015, Quaternary InternationalCitation Excerpt :First, the context related dating in the region has provided important data to chronologically contextualize some of the main rock art sites in the area such as Altxerri B, Askondo and Etxeberri. In Ochoa's and García-Díez's paper these evidence is criticized without taking into account all the recently published information (Garate and Rios-Garaizar, 2012; Garate et al., 2012; González-Sainz et al., 2013). Secondly, the use of a comparative stylistic approach could be an interesting exercise to strengthen or complete the chronological framework in this region.