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This paper contributes to current debates on the technologies and practices of prehistoric artists using the rock art site of el Carche (Jalance, Spain) as a case study. The site preserves both Levantine and Schematic paintings, yet poorly understood from an analytical point of view. In the past, it has even been argued how little differentiation there is between these two post-Paleolithic traditions in terms of paint composition. Our aim with this paper was to identify pigments, paint recipes and technologies and decipher the order of the superimpositions, both between Levantine motifs of different styles, and between these and the Schematic ones. To do so, we adopted a multi-stage and multi-technical analytical strategy, trying to find a balance between sound scientific investigation and impact on the art, considering the irreplaceable nature of this World Heritage rock art. As such, our approach begins with in situ non-invasive investigations using portable EDXRF, to then collect micro-samples for non-destructive analyses by means of Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), micro-Raman Spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). One of the key highlights of these paper is the identification of up to four different paint compositions, produced with various hematite-based raw materials and different processing techniques. This variability had not been previously documented. Interestingly though, no direct correlations appear to exist between styles or sub-styles and recipes. Some of these paint mixtures were even shared by both traditions. These results are discussed in cultural terms, challenging previous interpretations suggesting a similar pigment composition between Levantine and Schematic art. Microstratigraphic analysis of the cross-sections only partially clarified the overlapping sequence unveiling the complexity of these analysis. They also revealed several degradation layers and external crusts related to rock alteration processes and biological formations. Their role in rock art conservation is also discussed.

Abstract The Iberian Mediterranean Basin is home to one of the largest groups of prehistoric rock art sites in Europe. Despite the cultural relevance of prehistoric Spanish Levantine rock art, pigment composition remains partially unknown, and the nature of the binders used for painting has yet to be disclosed. In this work, we present the first omic analysis applied to one of the flagship Levantine rock art sites: the Valltorta ravine (Castellón, Spain). We used high-throughput sequencing to provide the first description of the bacterial communities colonizing the rock art patina, which proved to be dominated by Firmicutes species and might have a protective effect on the paintings. Proteomic analysis was also performed on rock art microsamples in order to determine the organic binders present in Levantine prehistoric rock art pigments. This information could shed light on the controversial dating of this UNESCO Cultural Heritage, and contribute to defining the chrono-cultural framework of the societies responsible for these paintings.

Se presenta un disco-coraza de hierro procedente del oppidum ibérico de la Bastida de les Alcusses documentado con motivo de la revisión completa de los hallazgos de las excavaciones realizadas entre 1928 y 1931. La pieza es una lámina seudocircular en cuyo perímetro se distribuyen unos pequeños remaches para suspender el disco a las correas de sujeción, realizadas probablemente en cuero. Después de presentar el disco y los resultados de las analíticas EDXRF que permiten identificar los metales utilizados en la producción del disco (hierro) y los remaches (plata y cobre), se analiza su contexto de hallazgo, se encuadra históricamente esta categoría de armamento defensivo. Finalmente, se interpreta en su contexto social de la primera mitad del siglo IV a. C. en el sudeste ibérico.

We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish Levantine rock art. This new protocol seeks to identify the raw materials that were used, as well as reconstruct the different technical gestures and decision-making processes involved in the obtaining of these black pigments. For the first of these goals, the pictorial matter of the black figurative motifs documented at the Les Dogues rock art shelter (Ares del Maestre, Castellón, Spain) was characterized through the combination of physicochemical and archeobotanical analyses. During the first stage of our research protocol, in situ and non-destructive analyses were carried out by means of portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF); during the second stage, samples were analyzed by Optical Microscopy (OM), Raman spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Two major conclusions have been drawn from these analyses: first, charred plant matter has been identified as a main component of these prehistoric black pigments; and second, angiosperm and conifer charcoal was a primary raw material for pigment production, identified by means of the archaeobotanical study of plant cells. For the second goal, black charcoal pigments were replicated in the laboratory by using different raw materials and binders and by reproducing two main chaînes opératoires. The comparative study of the structure and preservation of plant tissues of both prehistoric and experimental pigments by means of SEM-EDX underlines both a complex preparation process and the use of likely pigment recipes, mixing raw material with fatty or oily binders. Finally, the formal and stylistic analysis of the motifs portrayed at Les Dogues allowed us to explore the relationship between identified stylistic phases and black charcoal pigment use, raising new archaeological questions concerning the acquisition of know-how and the transfer of traditionally learned chaînes opératoires in Spanish Levantine rock art.

Different flint types from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia) are characterized, both macro- and microscopically, and compared with types found at other localities in the region. Although procurement predominantly concerned the immediate vicinity of sites, our results show the presence of the same types in assemblages separated by distances of up to 120 km. The long distances involved are suggestive of a pattern of North-South mobility of human groups along the coastline of central Mediterranean Iberia.

In this work we analyze the pigments used in the decoration of red and yellow motifs present in the portable art of the Parpalló Cave (Gandía, Spain), one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in the Spanish Mediterranean region. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) and spectrophotometry in the visible region (CIEL*a*b*color coordinates and spectral reflectance curves) were used to perform in situ fast analyses of the red and yellow motifs with portable equipment and to characterize their elemental composition and their colorimetric perception, respectively. According to the elemental composition, the intensity of the fluorescence iron signals in red and yellow motifs are higher than average values in the rock substrates. As expected, red motifs possess high values of the chromatic coordinate a* and yellow motifs possess high values of b*. This characterization was complemented with FT-IR analyses of microsamples detached from the red and yellow colored zones of a small set of plaquettes. Our results show that the artists used red and yellow pigments in the decoration likely derived from natural iron oxides as hematite and goethite.

Se analizan los casos de esqueletos con tinciones documentados en el ámbito argárico del Sudeste de la Península Ibérica. Se evalúan las diversas hipótesis planteadas hasta el momento en relación con el origen de estas coloraciones, tomando en consideración los análisis (SEM, XRD y espectroscopía RAMAN) realizados en cinco tumbas argáricas de Murcia y Alicante que han determinado la presencia de ocre y cinabrio. Sin descartar su posible uso en el teñido de tejidos, se propone su empleo en el maquillaje facial y corporal, siendo mayor el número de casos registrados sobre esqueletos de mujeres que de hombres.

In most sciences practical exercises are the best way to assess and obtain scientific and technical knowledge and skills capacities. This is a training that, as in the sports world, results to be essential and improves efficiency. Problem solving activities require a significant amount of staff time and effort for setting and marking this type of work and, in this respect, the use of on-line quizzes can be helpful. However, on-linequizzes present also an important drawback: the need of a big initial effort. In order to reduce this initial effort, the creation and exportation protocol of a multiple option questions database was proposed.

La caracterización mineralógica de materias colorantes procedentes de los yacimientos valencianos de la Cova de l'Or, la Cova de la Sarna y la Cova Fosca de la Vall d'Ebo demuestra el uso de dos tipos de materia colorante durante el Neolítico Antiguo: Hematites y Cinabrio. Las características y distribución geográfica de cada una de ellas nos remiten a dos estrategias distintas de obtención y. probablemente. de utilización de las mismas.

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La coloración rojiza de la superficie externa del fragmento cerámico con decoración de cervidos incisos de la Cova de l’Or se ha interpretado tradicionalmente como evidencia de la aplicación de la técnica de la almagra. Sin embargo, el análisis elemental del fragmento y la comparación de los resultados con los obtenidos a partir de otro fragmento con decoración a la almagra del mismo yacimiento, permite cuestionar la utilización de dicha técnica en el primero de ellos. Así mismo, la búsqueda de paralelos para los motivos esquemáticos incisos del vaso, tanto entre las decoraciones cerámicas como en arte parietal, nos lleva a sugerir que más que ciervos pudiera tratarse de representaciones de ciervas.