Pleistocene Palaeoart of the Americas

Abstract

Abstract:In contrast to the great time depth of Pleistocene rock art and mobiliary 'art' in the four other continents, the available evidence from the Americas is very limited, and restricted at best to the last part of the final Pleistocene. A review of what has so far become available is hampered by a considerable burden of literature presenting material contended to be of the Ice Age, even of the Mesozoic in some cases, that needs to be sifted through to find a minute number of credible claims. Even the timing of the first colonization of the Americas remains unresolved, and the lack of clear-cut substantiation of palaeoart finds predating about 12,000 years BP is conspicuous. There are vague hints of earlier human presence, rendering it likely that archaeology has failed to define its manifestations adequately, and Pleistocene palaeoart remains almost unexplored at this stage.

Iconographic and archaeometric studies on the rock art at Musayqira, Al‐Quwaiyah Governorate, central Saudi Arabia

“…Rock art in the form of petroglyphs and pictographs is found on all continents inhabited by humans (e.g., Bednarik, 2013, 2014; Cremaschi, 1996; Francis & Loendorf, 2004; Guagnin et al, 2015, 2016, 2017; Heizer & Baumhoff, 1962; Khan, 2007; Olsen, 2013; Ramanaidou & Fonteneau, 2019; Soukopova, 2018; Tang et al, 2018; Whitley, 2013; Whitley & Dorn, 2007; Whitley, Santoro, & Valenzuela, 2017). It is one of the most ancient forms of human artistic expression, which can inform us about the minds and lives of our human ancestors.…”

Archaeometric studies on the petroglyphs and rock varnish at Kilwa and Sakaka, northern Saudi Arabia

“…Petroglyphs are found on all continents inhabited by humans (e.g., Bednarik, 2013, 2014; Francis & Loendorf, 2004; Heizer & Baumhoff, 1962; Khan, 2007; Olsen, 2013; Ramanaidou & Fonteneau, 2019; Soukopova, 2018; Tang et al, 2018; Whitley, 2013; Whitley & Dorn, 2007; Whitley et al, 2017). Because they contain no dateable pigment, they are even more difficult to date than pictographs, and there is thus considerable uncertainty about the age of the oldest preserved petroglyphs.…”

“…Because they contain no dateable pigment, they are even more difficult to date than pictographs, and there is thus considerable uncertainty about the age of the oldest preserved petroglyphs. Ages from the late Pleistocene ( c .15 ka BP) have been proposed (Bednarik, 2013, 2014; Huyge et al, 2011; Ramanaidou & Fonteneau, 2019; Tang et al, 2018), but petroglyph creation may have begun considerably earlier, considering that they are usually in locations exposed to weathering and thus may only be preserved for some 10–20 ka (Bednarik, 2012). In Saudi Arabia, rock art has been created from around the time of the Neolithic transition until the present, based on an analysis of its content and on archaeometric measurements (Bednarik, 2017; Guagnin et al, 2015, 2016, 2017; Khan, 2007, 2017; Macholdt et al, 2018, 2019).…”

Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?

“…In the nearby Chiribiquete National Park, a zoomorphic figure with clear tusks has been tentatively identified as an ‘elephant' [ 10 ]. Petroglyphs of proboscideans have been recorded in the Upper Sand island site in Utah [ 1 ] and an engraved image of a proboscidean was engraved on a fragmented fossil bone collected at Vero beach in Florida [ 41 ] (but see [ 17 ] for a critical review) ( figure 1 ).…”

“…Several potential Ice Age megafauna images have been suggested across the Americas [1,4,[10][11][12][13][14], though the identification of the diagnostic physical features of the purported megafauna is controversial. The issue is further complicated as the majority of the paintings are not directly dated and, for the few that are, the ages are questioned or revised [13,[15][16][17].…”