Post-palaeolithic Rock Art of Northeast Murcia, Spain: An Analysis of Landscape and Motif Distribution

Abstract

Multiple studies demonstrate a connection between landscape and the distribution of rock art in Mediterranean Spain. Looking beyond styles as the primary analytical dimension, and instead focusing on similarities across style boundaries, can deepen our understanding of this connection.

While previous studies of the relationship between post-Palaeolithic rock art and landscape have considered different classes of image, including humans, animals, and geometric shapes, they have maintained the primary split into the main styles defined in the Mediterranean region. This is problematic because each style has considerable variability, distinct distributions within the Iberian Peninsula, and different histories of development. Different styles frequently occur together, occasionally superimposed or showing multiple painting episodes. The styles were therefore at least partially contemporary, and did not correspond to distinct territories. Style may have been deliberately used to carry meaning, suggesting that the use of specific types of image was more closely related to landscape than the overall styles.

A typology of motifs which transcends styles was created, and the frequency of the appearance of these motif types in specific landscape contexts and the combinations in which they appear together on panels was evaluated. The results suggest that there are indeed patterns beyond style, which may indicate different functions or meanings behind both image and place.