Munibe Antropologia-Arkeologia (Sep 2023)
Nuevo hallazgo de arte mueble de estilo Paleolítico en el Noreste peninsular: la plaqueta grabada de les Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona)
Abstract
El hallazgo de un canto de esquisto con 7 zoomorfos (ciervos, cápridos y/o bóvidos) y restos informes grabados en el yacimiento de Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona), contribuye a enriquecer el exiguo repertorio de arte mueble de tradición paleolítica del noreste de la península Ibérica. Su análisis detallado y su comparación con el registro artístico de la vertiente mediterránea peninsular resultan claves para determinar su adscripción crono-cultural. La pieza conserva un complejo palimpsesto de motivos figurativos y no figurativos distribuidos por ambas caras, cuyas características formales, técnicas y compositivas (asociaciones no escénicas), nos remiten al final del ciclo artístico paleolítico. Este hallazgo amplía el inventario de arte paleolítico catalán, reafirma la importancia de la provincia de Tarragona, que concentra la mayoría de los hallazgos de arte mueble paleolítico de Cataluña, y abre nuevas perspectivas en el estudio del yacimiento, al ampliar su cronología hasta momentos finales del Paleolítico superior. ABSTRACT: This paper reports the discovery of a schist slab with 7 zoomorphic figures (deer, wild goats and/or bulls) and other engraved remains at Coves del Fem site (Ulldemolins, Priorat, Tarragona) in 2020. This find adds to the limited, although unique, repertoire of portable art of Palaeolithic style found so far in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. A detailed analysis of this piece and comparison with the artistic record known so far for the Mediterranean side of Iberia are key to establish the relative chronology of this find. The themes (a combination of animals and non-figurative motifs), the formal (simplified representations of animals with elongated bodies), technical (a schist slab with fine incised engravings filled with striated strokes) and compositional patterns of the motifs, with a complex palimpsest of figurative and non-figurative engravings distributed on both sides creating two non-scenic compositions, recall an art from the end of the Paleolithic artistic cycle. To these common elements, this slab adds certain singularities. First, two animals of different species are involved in a mirror symmetry composition, which is not unique to this site, but it is more common in older periods and with the animals distributed on both sides of a vertical axis, rather than horizontal, as in this case. Such distribution has no parallels in this final phase of the artistic sequence. Second, the microscopic analysis of the art reveals the preservation of red pigment inside the engraved grooves, showing the use of a mixed technique, involving a combination of incision and painting. This practice, used probably to enhance motifs and improve visualization, has been recorded in a limited number of Palaeolithic sites, most likely due to conservation problems. Third, the slab includes the first example of an engraved goat known in the Catalan repertoire. Overall, this find contributes to expand the repertoire of Catalan Paleolithic art, confirms the importance of the Tarragona province, concentrating most of the finds of Paleolithic portable art in Catalonia, and opens new perspectives in the study of Coves del Fem, substantially expanding the chronology of this site until the end of the Upper Paleolithic period. Finally, it brings a new example with its own peculiarities (the type of composition) for characterizing the art of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in south-western Europe.
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