Early stages of Palaeolithic rock art in southern Iberia. Malaga area

  • Pedro Cantalejo Duartea Cueva de Ardales y Cuevas del Rincón de la Victoria
  • Luis-Efrén Fernández Rodríguez Instituto de Investigación. Fundación Cueva de Nerja
  • Hipólito Collado Giraldo Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Gerd-Christian Weniger Universidad de Colonia
  • María del Mar Espejo Herrerías ArdalesTur
  • Diego Fernández-Sánchez Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Cristina Liñán Baena Instituto de Investigación. Fundación Cueva de Nerja
  • Yolanda del Rosal Padial Instituto de Investigación. Fundación Cueva de Nerja
  • Sara Garcês Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Hugo Gomes Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Virginia Lattao Instituto Terra e Memória
  • George Nash Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Pierluigi Rosina Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Carmela Vaccaro Universidad de Ferrara
  • Qingfeng Shao Universidad Normal de Nanjing
  • José Julio García Arranz Universidad de Extremadura
  • Hugo Alberto Mira Perales Instituto de Estudios Campo-Gibraltareños
  • Itziar Merino Arqueóloga Municipal de Benalmádena
  • José Ramos-Muñoz Universidad de Cádiz
Keywords: Palaeolithic rock art, Aniconic graphic motifs, Southern Iberia, Malaga region, Dating, Archaeometry

Abstract

We present a record of caves in southern Iberia in which Palaeolithic graphic manifestations are made up of a variety of signs, among which fingerings and punctuations, traces, pigment projections on geological formations, or coloured stains applied to the surface or edges of the speleothems predominate. They have been included in the concept of ‘aniconic horizon’. The uranium series dating in Cueva de Ardales has confirmed the remarkable antiquity of some of these manifestations. We present the caves in Malaga that have evidence of these graphic representations. We provide data on the methodology of the archaeometric analyses carried out as part of the First Art Project and discuss and evaluate their chronological and cultural framework in relation to the Palaeolithic societies of the region.

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Published
2025-12-03
How to Cite
Cantalejo Duartea P., Fernández Rodríguez L.-E., Collado Giraldo H., Weniger G.-C., Espejo Herrerías M. d. M., Fernández-Sánchez D., Liñán Baena C., del Rosal Padial Y., Garcês S., Gomes H., Lattao V., Nash G., Rosina P., Vaccaro C., Shao Q., García Arranz J. J., Mira Perales H. A., Merino I. y Ramos-Muñoz J. (2025). Early stages of Palaeolithic rock art in southern Iberia. Malaga area. Complutum, 36(2), 371-402. https://doi.org/10.5209/cmpl.105649
Section
Articles