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Motion and Gesture: Analysing Artistic Skills in Palaeolithic Art

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Abstract

The development of artistic abilities in Upper Palaeolithic societies has been analysed in recent years from the perspective of learning and transmission of artistic know-how, from both technical and formal points of view. Recent analyses, based on the study of the operational chains involved in engraving, have shown different levels of acquisition of technical knowledge among Magdalenian artists in Western Europe. This study presents the results of an experimental programme based on the analysis of the physical actions performed while executing artistic motifs. Different patterns of movement and orientation were analysed within a large group of engravers with different levels of technical ability in order to determine the gestural parameters that characterize the different stages of artistic learning. The results, which have been processed with statistical analysis tools, make it possible to differentiate with greater precision the different actions required to engrave on hard materials with lithic implements, as well as the different stages of acquisition of technical knowledge linked to the production of artistic motifs by engraving.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants in the experimentation for their kind collaboration: Sofía Rodríguez Palomar, Pablo Ajenjo López, Lucía Panero Santiago, Andrea Herencias, Francisco José Santos, Xabier Eguileor, Rosaura Dueñas, Miguel García Bustos, Carlos Vázquez Marcos, Rosana Cerezo Fernández, Francisco Javier Sánchez Conde, Paula García Bustos, Juan Manuel Rubio, Javier Paz Barbero, Guiomar Pulido González, Carla Fernández Mallo, Jaime Galván, Rodrigo Portero, Jesús Tapia, Antonio Blanco, Sara Gálvez, Ana María Mateo Pellitero, Julián Bécares, and José Aurelio Munúa.

They are equally grateful to Prof. Dr. Georges Sauvet for allowing the use of his STAT2 computer programme and assistance with the statistical analyses and to Dr. Blandine Bril for her comments, which have significantly helped to improve the original manuscript.

The Prehistoric Technology Laboratory (LabTec) at the University of Salamanca and especially Ana María Mateo played a vital role in the development of the whole research process.

Finally, we are particularly grateful to Amy Chase, from Memorial University of Newfoundland, who has extensively reviewed the English of the manuscript.

All the images and figures are copyright free.

Funding

The study presented in this paper was funded by the research project of the Spanish Science Ministry ‘Learning and developing artistic skills in anatomically modern humans: a multidisciplinary approach’ HAR2017-87739-P, led by Olivia Rivero.

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  1. Dpto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Salamanca, C/Cervantes s/n., 37008, Salamanca, Spain

    Olivia Rivero

  2. Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander, Universidad de Cantabria, Edificio Interfacultativo Avda. De Los Castros s/n., 39005, Santander, Spain

    Diego Garate

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  1. Olivia Rivero
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Correspondence to Olivia Rivero.

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Rivero, O., Garate, D. Motion and Gesture: Analysing Artistic Skills in Palaeolithic Art. J Archaeol Method Theory 27, 561–584 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-020-09476-5

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