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Who painted that? The authorship of Schematic rock art at the Los Machos rockshelter in southern Iberia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2020

Francisco Martínez-Sevilla Open the ORCID record for Francisco Martínez-Sevilla [Opens in a new window] ,
Meritxell Arqués ,
Xavier Jordana ,
Assumpció Malgosa ,
José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez ,
Margarita Sánchez Romero ,
Kate Sharpe  and
Javier Carrasco Rus
Francisco Martínez-Sevilla*
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Spain Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
Meritxell Arqués
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Jordana
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Assumpció Malgosa
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Spain
Margarita Sánchez Romero
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Spain
Kate Sharpe
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK
Javier Carrasco Rus
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Granada, Spain
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ martinezsevilla@ugr.es
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Abstract

Globally, rock art is one of the most widely distributed manifestations of past human activity. Previous research, however, has tended to focus on the art rather than artists. Understanding which members of society participated in creating such art is crucial to interpreting its social implications and that of the sites at which it is found. This article presents the first application of a method—palaeodermatoglyphics—for the estimation of the sex and age of two later prehistoric individuals who left their fingerprints at the Los Machos rockshelter in southern Iberia. The method has the potential to illuminate the complex socio-cultural dimensions of rock art sites worldwide.

Keywords

Iberian PeninsulaNeolithicrock artpalaeodermatoglyphicspainting techniques
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 94 , Issue 377 , October 2020 , pp. 1133 - 1151
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2020

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