About the prominence in the use of natural accidents in the caves of Bédeilhac (Ariège, France) and El Pindal (Asturies, Spain)

Abstract

The utilisation of natural reliefs is well known in the rock art of the Upper Palaeolithic, but it is often underestimated. In this note, two unpublished examples coming from the caves of Bédeilhac (Ariège, France) and El Pindal (Asturias, Spain) are described. In both cases, they are reliefs slightly separated from the wall, which have the shape of a natural animal head. The only human intervention consisted in the addition of an engraved eye and some traces of red pigment. The similarity of treatment in the two caves suggests a commonality of thought. Thus the reliefs used in Bédeilhac and El Pindal must be added to the numerous convergences already known between the two sites, among which the presence of Pyrenean claviforms in El Pindal, and confirms a strong cultural proximity between the French Pyrenees and the western side of the Cantabrian region during the Magdalenian period.

Keywords

• agdaleniense
• pirineos franceses
• región cantábrica
• intercambios culturales
• psicología de la forma