A new group of Palaeolithic painted hands from the southern Iberian Peninsula. Las Estrellas cave (Castellar de la Frontera, Cádiz)

Abstract

This work presents a review of the rock art conserved at a site located in the autonomous community of Andalusia, known in the preceding literature as the Las Estrellas cave (Castellar de la Frontera, Cádiz). This is a large open-air rocky shelter, in which various schematic style pictographs were found, in the early years of this century. During a recent visit to the site, the existence of an important Palaeolithic figurative set was also noted, which includes representations of fauna and a small series of outlines of hands. This article deals with the generic analysis of the art catalogued in the cave up to the present moment, paying special attention to the set of the aforementioned Palaeolithic handprints, which have been documented using digital 3d technology. Similarly, its contextualization in Andalusian Palaeolithic art will be taken into account and a first chronological approximation of this interesting and varied figurative system will be made.

Keywords

• arte rupestre al aire libre
• tratamiento digital de imagen 3d
• paleolítico
• sur peninsular