Are hand stencils in European cave art older than we think?

Pettitt, Paul; Arias, Pablo; García-Diez, Marcos; Hoffmann, D.; Castillejo, Alfredo Maximiano; Ontañon-Peredo, Roberto; Pike, Alistair; Zilhão, João

doi:10.2307/j.ctvr43m2m.10

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…This raises questions regarding how the ability or desire to represent ‘things’ emerged. If our current understanding of the chronological development of Palaeolithic visual culture is correct, it seems that figurative representation occurred after a long non-figurative phase, perhaps shortly after 40,000 b p in Europe and east Asia, and conceivably elsewhere (Aubert et al 2014; Conard 2009; Floss 2018; Pettitt et al 2015). As discussed by Guthrie (2005), Malafouris (2007) and Dobrez and Dobrez (2013), figurative art may have involved the first human attempt to render a three-dimensional object (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)

Wisher,

Pettitt,

Kentridge

2023

CAJ

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The influence of pareidolia has often been anecdotally observed in examples of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, where topographic features of cave walls were incorporated into images. As part of a wider investigation into the visual psychology of the earliest known art, we explored three hypotheses relating to pareidolia in cases of Late Upper Palaeolithic art in Las Monedas and La Pasiega Caves (Cantabria, Spain). Deploying current research methods from visual psychology, our results support the notion that topography of cave walls played a strong role in the placement of figurative images—indicative of pareidolia influencing art making—although played a lesser role in determining whether the resulting images were relatively simple or complex. Our results also suggested that lighting conditions played little or no role in determining the form or placement of images, contrary to what has been previously assumed. We hypothesize that three ways of artist–cave interaction (‘conversations’) were at work in our sample caves and suggest a developmental scheme for these. We propose that these ‘conversations’ with caves and their surfaces may have broader implications for how we conceive of the emergence and development of art in the Palaeolithic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)

Wisher,

Pettitt,

Kentridge

2023

CAJ

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…6.4;Nelson et al, 2006Nelson et al, , 2017Nowell, 2021, pp. 74-76, see table 3.3;Pettitt et al, 2014Pettitt et al, , 2015Rabazo-Rodríguez et al, 2017;Snow, 2006Snow, , 2013, the Americas (e.g., Bahn, 1998;Guichón & Re, 2021;Onetto & Podestá, 2011), Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia, Thailand and parts of China (e.g., see Aubert et al, 2014Aubert et al, , 2018Chazine, 2005;Chazine & Noury, 2006;Oktaviana et al, 2016;Solheim & Gorman, 1964;Standish et al, 2020;Taçon et al, 2016)), Australia (e.g., Gunn. 2006;Hayward et al, 2018;Moore, 1977;Quinnell, 1976;Taçon et al, 2010;Walsh, 1979), New Guinea (e.g., Arifin & Delanghe, 2004;Edwards & Sullivan, 2008;Gabriel & Gorecki, 2014;Röder, 1938;Tsang et al, 2020Tsang et al, , 2021Tsang et al, , 2022 and the greater western Pacific islands (e.g., Ballard, 1992;Rosenfeld, 1988;Sand et al, 2006;Specht, 1979;Wilson, 2002;Wilson & Ballard, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over the past century, hand stencils have been growing in interest because they are not only a ubiquitous representation of human artistic behaviour in rock art assemblages but also an undebatable illustration of the presence of humans on the landscape (e.g., Walker et al, 2018). Various studies have focused on the technical aspects of the imagery, such as the hand size and whether the stencil is of a female or male hand (Faurie & Raymond, 2004;Nelson et al, 2006Nelson et al, , 2017Pettitt et al, 2015;Rabazo-Rodríguez et al, 2017;Snow, 2006Snow, , 2013. Some researchers have also attempted to identify the hands of children (e.g., Gunn 2006) and non-humans (e.g., Honoré et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hand stencils and communal history: A case study from Auwim, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

Tsang

Katuk²,

May

et al. 2023

Archaeology in Oceania

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Hand stencils directly represent modern humans in landscape settings around the world. Yet their social and cultural contexts are often overlooked due to the lack of ethnography associated with the artwork. This paper explores the hand stencils from Kundumbue and Pundimbung rock art sites, situated in the traditional boundaries of the Auwim people in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. Combining archaeological rock art analysis with ethnographic knowledge, we demonstrate that the hand stencils are a priority in each clan's place-making practices, around which they construct the community's social narratives. Rock shelters and their rock art also show a form of communal history that is evoked through their production in contemporary settings, in addition to having been a form of esoteric magic in the past. We conclude that hand stencils can have multiple meanings over time and across space as a widespread cultural marker. However, aspects of the identities of individuals, groups and communities who created the now static hand imagery, remain in place.

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Raman microscopy of hand stencils rock art from the Yabrai Mountain, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Hernanz¹,

Chang²,

Iriarte³

et al. 2017

inArt 2016

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Are hand stencils in European cave art older than we think?

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)

Conversations with Caves: The Role of Pareidolia in the Upper Palaeolithic Figurative Art of Las Monedas and La Pasiega (Cantabria, Spain)

Hand stencils and communal history: A case study from Auwim, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea

Raman microscopy of hand stencils rock art from the Yabrai Mountain, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

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