Rock art dating has been one of the major challenges since its discovery and recognition. The methods have evolved through the last century, beginning with the study of superpositions and style until to the application of numeric methods since the 1990s. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and publish an up-to-date database of all of the numerical dates currently available for Iberian prehistoric rock art sites. For this purpose, the manuscript reviews all the methods applied so far to Iberian rock art discussing the limits, the sampling involved, and the problems affecting the results. After that, we present and discuss the most relevant results related to each cultural graphic tradition (Palaeolithic, Levantine, Schematic and Megalithic rock art) assessing their value and limitations. Finally, we reflect on the future of rock art dating: unfortunately most of the motifs are not dateble in numeric terms, meaning we still have to combine traditional with numerical methods; but also, we need to keep working on the problems affecting these methods to be able to create a more reliable chronological framework of use to address other issues such as group mobility, cultural networks, and reutilisation of symbolic elements, to name a few.

espanolLos autores exponen las dificultades por las que hubo de pasar la respuesta a un ar-ticulo, publicado en Science en 2018, en el que se afirmaba que el Neandertal era el autor de ciertas pinturas de tres cuevas espanolas, segun dataciones obtenidas por el metodo del uranio-torio. En esa respuesta, se explicitaban las distintas fuentes de error que pue-den conducir a fechas anormalmente envejecidas y se recapitulaban los argumentos ar-queologicos que contradicen dataciones tan antiguas. Muchos de los evaluadores de las revistas americanas prefirieron confiar en la arqueometria mas que en la Arqueologia europea, para ellos desconocida. Asi, el articulo circulo por las manos de numerosos re-visores, transcurriendo un ano y medio antes de que pudiera, por fin, salir en el Journal of Human Evolution. Este proceso ilustra la opacidad que subyace tras la aparente obje-tividad y neutralidad del procedimiento de evaluacion cientifica de revision por pares cuando se trata de contradecir a cientificos de reconocido prestigio. EnglishAn international group of archaeologists specializing in cave art explain the diffi-culties they faced to publish their response to another paper, previously published in Science (Hoffmann et al. 2018), reporting a Neanderthal origin of some Spanish cave pain-tings according to Uranium-thorium method. In their reply, they underlined the diffe-rent sources of error that lead to overestimate the dates and summarized the contra-dictions with archeological arguments. Some American reviewers put more trust in ar-cheometry than in European arqueology, which is unfamiliar to them. Thus, the paper passed through the hands of many reviewers and it took more than one year to finally publish it in Journal of Human Evolution. This whole process illustrates the lack of trans-parency in peer review procedures -although apparently objective and neutral- when renowned authors are concerned.

In the excitement of the widely publicized new finds of Aurignacian art from Chauvet, from the Swabian Jura and from as far afield as Pestera Coliboaia in Romania, it has almost been forgotten that a rich corpus of Aurignacian wall painting, engraving and bas-relief sculpture had been recognized and studied before World War I in the Vezere Valley of SW France. Scientific knowledge of the chronological and cultural context of that early-discovered graphic record has been limited by the crude archaeological methods of that pioneering era, and the loss and dispersal of many of the works discovered. In 2011, we launched new excavations and a re-analysis of one of the key sites for such early discoveries, the collapsed rock shelter of Abri Blanchard. In 2012, we discovered in situ a limestone slab engraved with a complex composition combining an aurochs and dozens of aligned punctuations. This new find, recovered by modern methods and dated by molecular filtration and Hydroxyproline 14C, provides new information on the context and dating of Aurignacian graphic imagery in SW France and its relationship to that of other regions. The support is not a fragment of collapsed shelter ceiling and is situated in the midst of quotidian occupational debris. The image shows significant technical and thematic similarities to Chauvet that are reinforced by our reanalysis of engraved slabs from the older excavations at Blanchard. The aligned punctuations find their counterparts at Chauvet, in the south German sites and on several other objects from Blanchard and surrounding Aurignacian sites. In sum, we argue that dispersing Aurignacian groups show a broad commonality in graphic expression against which a certain number of more regionalized characteristics stand out, a pattern that fits well with social geography models that focus on the material construction of identity at regional, group and individual levels. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

The rich record of Aurignacian graphic arts from sites in the Vézère Valley of SW France holds a key place in our understanding of systems of representation in the European Early Upper Paleolithic. One of the main sites yielding representational objects is Abri Cellier, which has long been on the short-list of major art-bearing sites attributed to the European Aurignacian. Collie's 1927 excavations yielded 15 engraved and/or pierced limestone blocks that have served as a key point of reference for the study of Aurignacian art in SW France. As part of a broader re-excavation of key Aurignacian sites in the Vézère Valley, we returned to Abri Cellier in 2014, with detailed archives in hand, in the hopes of finding intact deposits that would allow a better understanding of the archaeological sequence at the site and its relationship to other Aurignacian sites in the so-called "classic zone." While disappointingly little is left of the site, the 2014 season allowed the addition of 16 new engraved, painted or pierced blocks to the 15 already known from the 1927 excavations. We present here a brief history of excavations at the site, a stratigraphic analysis, an overview of archaeological materials recovered, a series of 14C ultrafiltration dates, a brief discussion of the peculiar characteristics of Aurignacian block art in SW France, a detailed analysis of the engraved surfaces of the blocks discovered in 1927 and in 2014 and finally a comparison of the newly-revised Cellier block assemblage with those from other Aurignacian sites in the Vézère.

The Bronze Age decorated cave of Les Fraux (Dordogne, France) combines cave art and evidence for domestic and symbolic activities. The interdisciplinary research which has been conducted on the site since 2007 attempts to untangle the interwoven uses of this cave for later prehistoric communities, during short but regular human visitations, by combining chronology, interactions between individuals and their environment, and emerging technologies. The cave seems first to have been characterised by symbolic activity (cave art, votive deposits), becoming increasingly used for domestic activities. One aim of the research was the interpretation of archaeological data within a framework which combined space and time, from data acquisition, implementation of site monitoring, experimentation and simulation to reconstruction. We employed an integrative research approach based on new technologies, involving full 3D documentation of the entire site and processing of interdisciplinary data according to accurate 3D models of the cave, which provided a common framework for the various studies and partners involved. The difficulty of our study, however, lies in the definition and the meaning of ritual or symbolic gesture, as practiced in a cave context.

The making of images has played an important role in the functioning of prehistoric societies because it is a tool of communication that contributes to the stability of social groups. First and foremost, the image can serve as a form of visual support for the collective myths that form the basis of culture, but all forms of imagery, figurative and non-figurative, can serve as significant markers within a society. Members of traditional societies can be defined by their membership in a group (clan, lineage, social status, etc.), which can be made visible through graphic signs that are made according to more or less strict rules known by all members of the larger society. Such distinctive marks can be applied directly to the body of each individual (through body painting, tattooing, scarification), but they can also be reproduced on external surfaces (such as cave or rock walls), and thus acquire the status of a representative in absentia. It has been proposed at various times that these graphic expressions, generally called "signs," constitute veritable "identity markers" that can be perceived at multiple levels. Within a group, they serve to signal the membership of each individual to a social status or category. In intergroup relationships, they can have a more general role as markers of territory or ethnicity (Leroi-Gourhan. 1981). Certain signs lend themselves particularly well to the social-markers hypothesis because they possess all of the characteristics required for this function. Such is the case of the quadrilateral signs from Upper Paleolithic contexts in the Cantabrian region, Spain. In the caves of El Castillo, La Pasiega, Altamira, and Las Chimeneas, relatively close together, we find groupings of signs that share a common quadrilateral structure but vary in terms of the arrangement of internal details. A formal analysis based on the method of correspondence analysis and other statistical tests reveals two primary groups based on these independent formal characteristics. This schema appears to the be product of a codified system that allows fora large number of variants with a high potential for distinction based on the flexible combination of a relatively small number of elements. These examples constitute a form of differential marking, of which numerous examples are known over time and across cultures, from the first modern humans to contemporary societies. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

We can trace the beginnings of our knowledge of early Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian) use of fire to the pioneering 1910–1911 excavations at Abri Blanchard undertaken by Louis Didon and Marcel Castanet. At Blanchard, the excavators recognized and described fire structures that correspond in many ways to features excavated more recently in Western and Central Europe. Here, we address the issue of heat and light management in the early Upper Paleolithic, demonstrating a pattern that builds on these early excavations but that is refined through our recent field operations. Topics to be discussed include (1) recently excavated fire structures that suggest complex fire management and use, (2) the seemingly massive use of bone as fuel in most early Aurignacian sites, and (3) the anchoring of skin structures for purposes of heat retention with fireplaces behind animal-skin walls. Furthermore, new data on activities around fireplaces make it possible to infer social and organizational aspects of fire structures within Aurignacian living spaces. The vast majority of early Aurignacian occupations, most of them now dated to between 33,000 and 32,000 BP (uncalibrated), occurred on a previously unoccupied bedrock platform into which the occupants dug their fire features.

Since 2007, programmed excavations directed by R. White in the Aurignacian sites of Blanchard and Castanet have resulted in renewed studies of graphic representations and have led to a new approach to some of the earliest parietal art from a cultural, chronological and environmental perspective. The analysis of the formal and technical artistic characteristics within each archeological context as part of all the known representations on limestone blocks in rock shelter habitation sites in the northern Aquitaine reveals a form of cultural territory. Although certain graphic, as well as socio-economic choices, seem to be used partly as identity markers, convergences with other European regions can also be observed. These graphic representations thus seem to express both the need to mark out territory and at the same time, to convey a sense of belonging to a wider cultural entity. This dichotomy undoubtedly contributes to the broad stylistic diversity present at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. In this paper, we seek to define the reasons for such diversity of behavior and graphic arts within the Aurignacian culture.

For six years, an interdisciplinary team carried out the study of a Bronze Age underground network. This program has been labelled by the Institute of Ecology and Environment of the French Research Council (CNRS), who wants to promote new methodologies and experimental studies in Global Ecology. It takes advantage of the support of the French Ministry of Culture. The archaeological cave of Les Fraux (Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, Dordogne) is the only protohistorical site in Europe wherein are gathered testimonies of domestic, spiritual and artistic activities. Fortunately, the cave was closed at the end of the Bronze Age, following to the collapse of its entrance. The site is currently registered in the French Historical Monuments. The cave forms a wide network of galleries, characterized by the exceptional richness of its archaeological remains such as ceramic and metal deposits, numerous parietal representations (engravings or fingerings incised in the clay-walls and paintings sometimes in association with deposits) and about sixty domestic fireplaces. In that framework, 3D models of the cave constitute the common work support and the best way for scientific communication for the various studies conducted on the site by nearly forty researchers. In this specific context, a partnership among archaeologists and surveyors from INSA Strasbourg allows the team to develop, in an interdisciplinary way, new methods of data acquiring based on contact-free measurements techniques in order to acquire a full 3D-documentation. All the surveys are conducted in compliance with the integrity of the site. Different techniques based on Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Digital Photogrammetry and Spatial Imaging System have been used in order to generate a geometric and photorealistic 3D model from the combination of point clouds and photogrammetric images, for both visualization and accurate documentation purposes. Various scales of acquiring and diverse resolutions have been applied according to the subject: global volume cave, parietal representations, deposits… The aim of this paper is firstly to issue a statement of 6 years of 3D-recording in the cave and secondly to display recent methodological developments as for the integration of heterogeneous data in 3D models (i.e. magnetic field recording combined with the 3D models in order to locate magnetic anomalies in the cave). Another purpose is to give an overview of methodological and technological limitations we experienced since 2008. Finally, we attempt to present work in progress as to 3D-modelling and simulating and thinking on the way we should use 3D in archaeological caves.

Dramatic progress was seen in C-14-dating with the introduction of accelerator mass spectroscopy (AMS) which made possible the direct dating of prehistoric artworks painted or drawn with charcoal. However, in the case of engravings and red paintings, only indirect methods can be used that allow us to date deposits that have covered the works over time (TL, U/Th, oxalates, etc.).The uranium/thorium dating method gives reliable and relatively precise results in the case of massive speleothems, because the sampling is carried out at the heart of the material where the hypothesis of a closed system (that is, no exchange with the outside environment) is justified in most cases. Unfortunately, the situation is quite different in the case of thin layers of calcite that overlie Palaeolithic cave drawings. The conditions under which calcite forms depend largely on the hydrologic activity, which has greatly varied over the course of the Upper Palaeolithic and Holocene. In many cases, we can see that the growth of speleothems stopped during much of the Upper Palaeolithic. Consequently the ages obtained are minimum ages (terminus ante quem) which are frequently much younger than the real ages of the underlying artworks.Moreover, a much more serious but rarely considered source of error contradicts the assumption of a closed system. In thin layers of carbonate deposits and in damp media, the uranium incorporated into the calcite during its crystallization may be partially eliminated because of its solubility in water. Uranium leaching causes an artificial increase of the age thatmay reach considerable proportions (e.g. a negative hand in a cave in Borneowas dated to 27,000 years by U/Th whereas its C-14 agewas only 8-10,000 cal BP; Plagnes et al., 2003).Due to these two contradictory sources of error, the dates given by the U/Th method may prove to be younger or older, with deviations that are much larger than the standard deviations given by laboratories. As a result it is nearly impossible and very dangerous to base archaeological reasoning on U/Th ages of Palaeolithic artworks, so long as the dates are not confirmed by an independent method, dating the carbonates in the same samples by 14C being the best means of detecting anomalies.The application of the U/Th method for the dating of prehistoric rock art is still experimental. Technical improvements (for less damageable sampling) and fundamental research on the causes of errors are needed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

SummaryIn 2011, an engraved limestone block was found in the cave of Arlanpe (Lemoa, northern Iberian Peninsula). One of the figures represented on it was identified as a schematic feminine representation similar to those of the Gönnersdorf‐Lalinde style. The stratigraphical position of the block is not totally clear owing to severe disturbance in the Upper Pleistocene deposits located near the entrance sector of the cave. Nevertheless, the most probable stratigraphical correlation is with Level I, which has been dated to the beginning of the Middle Magdalenian. This finding extends the distribution range of this kind of representation to the northern Iberian Peninsula, where, up to now, only two other, less clear, Gönnersdorf‐Lalinde style representations have been found. It also extends its chronological range, pushing it back to the beginning of the Middle Magdalenian. In this paper, we present the archaeological context of the engraved block, followed by a detailed description of technological and stylistic features. These data will be used to discuss the implication of this discovery for an understanding of the origins, expansion and diffusion of this kind of feminine representation across Europe.

Depuis 2007, la reprise de l'étude des surfaces ornées des sites aurignaciens de Blanchard et de Castanet, dans le cadre de fouilles programmées dirigées par R. White permet aujourd'hui, d'aborder l'un des témoignages les plus anciens d'art rupestre dans son contexte culturel, chronologique et environnemental. L'analyse de ses caractéristiques artistiques, tant formelles que techniques, au sein de ses propres contextes archéologiques, mise en perspective avec l'ensemble des supports calcaires ornés retrouvés sur des sites d'habitats en abri-sous-roche de la partie nord de la région d'Aquitaine, dessine alors les contours d'un territoire culturel. Bien que certains des choix graphiques, mais aussi socio-économiques, semblent fonctionner pour partie à l'Aurignacien comme des marqueurs identitaires, certaines convergences avec d'autres régions européennes peuvent être notées. Les représentations graphiques semblent alors partagées entre la nécessité de marquer son territoire et, tout à la fois, son appartenance à une entité culturelle plus large. Cette dichotomie contribue très certainement à la grande diversité stylistique rencontrée aux débuts du Paléolithique supérieur. En somme, nous nous demanderons quelles peuvent être les raisons à l'origine d'une telle diversité de comportements et de types de figuration au sein de la culture aurignacienne.

The Uranium-Thorium (U/Th) series dating method, developed 50 years ago, has proven its usefulness and reliability for the dating of marine (corals) and continental (speleothems) secondary carbonates deposits. Recently, improvements of the analytical techniques (TIMS - Thermo-Ionization Mass Spectrometry, and then MC-ICPMS Multicollector-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy and laser ablation) allow the dating of very small samples and increase the potential of this method.Given the difficulties of dating cave art (other than drawings created with charcoal, which can be directly dated by C-14), indirect dating methods have been sought. During the last decade, several publications have reported the dating by the U/Th method of thin layers of calcite overlying Paleolithic paintings and engravings or the support of these representations. In these cases, the age of calcite formation is assumed to provide a minimum age (terminus ante quem) for the underlying paintings or engravings or a maximum age (terminus post quem) when it is the support that is dated.The current article describes the relevance and potential of this method when applied to the dating of calcitic layers deposited above or below prehistoric drawings, together with the specific difficulties encountered in U/Th dating of such thin deposits. An initial difficulty is that thorium may be present in the calcite from the beginning (detritic thorium), making age corrections necessary.Another difficulty is that in the humid conditions prevalent in caves, the walls may have been subject to runoff over time. In this case, thin calcite layers covering paintings or engravings may have been altered, with possible chemical exchange between the water and the calcite. The most probable effect of this 'open system' behavior is the leaching of uranium, leading to an overestimation of the age of the calcite. Recent applications of the U/Th method to the dating of rock art have shown that this phenomenon, if not correctly identified by means of independent methods, may become a significant source of error. For this reason, it is important to know the concentrations of uranium in each calcitic sample, as this makes it possible to detect local anomalies that have led to a substantial loss of this element.In a recent paper concerning the U/Th dating of eleven Paleolithic decorated caves in the Cantabrian Region (Spain), extremely early dates were determined (more than 41,000 years in one case) and the authors speculated that certain representations could have been produced by Neanderthals. However as detailed analytical data (uranium content) have not been published one cannot appreciate the reliability of the ages obtained. Then, in the absence of confirmation by an independent dating method, it is premature to base an archaeological reasoning on these dates.This article emphasizes the necessity of carrying out several analyses on the same sample, and when possible on several layers from its thickness. Moreover it is important to perform cross dating using U/Th and C-14 (or even using other elements such as Ra-226 or Pa-231) in order to verify the consistency of the results. Several recent examples will illustrate this necessity. It should be also recalled that the calibration curves used to correct radiocarbon ages are largely based on the simultaneous dating by U/Th and C-14 of the same samples of speleothems and corals.Finally, it has to be mentioned that when the deposits underlying paintings or engravings are studied, the data obtained could be distant in time from the creative act. In fact, the growth of calcite is controlled by environmental factors and is favored during temperate and humid periods. Thus, a large number of calcitic layers overlying paintings could have been deposited during the Holocene. They could also have grown during a brief warming of the last glacial period, or represent a mean age between several growing periods. Nevertheless, these chronological data could bring relevant information, once their validity has been verified.

Multi-scale 3D recording for the global study of the decorated cave of les Fraux (Dordogne). For six years, an interdisciplinary team carried out the study of a Bronze Age underground network. This program has been labelled by the Institute of Ecology and Environment of the French Research Council (CNRS), who wants to promote new methodologies and experimental studies in Global Ecology. It takes advantage of the support of the French Ministry of Culture. The archaeological cave of Les Fraux (Saint-Martin-de-Fressengeas, Dordogne) is the only protohistorical site in Europe wherein are gathered testimonies of domestic, spiritual and artistic activities. Fortunately, the cave was closed at the end of the Bronze Age, following to the collapse of its entrance. The site is currently registered in the French Historical Monuments. The cave forms a wide network of galleries, characterized by the exceptional richness of its archaeological remains such as ceramic and metal deposits, numerous parietal representations (engravings or fingerings incised in the clay-walls and paintings sometimes in association with deposits) and about sixty domestic fireplaces. In that framework, 3D models of the cave constitute the common work support and the best way for scientific communication for the various studies conducted on the site by nearly forty researchers. In this specific context, a partnership among archaeologists and surveyors from INSA Strasbourg allows the team to develop, in an interdisciplinary way, new methods of data acquiring based on contact-free measurements techniques in order to acquire a full 3D-documentation and a 3D GIS (work in progress). The aim of this paper is to display a statement of 6 years of 3D-recording in the cave and to display recent methodological developments as for the integration of heterogeneous data in 3D models (i. e. magnetic field recording combined with the 3D models in order to locate magnetic anomalies in the cave). Finally, we attempt to present work in progress as to 3D-modelling and simulating.