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Rock Art Painting Taphonomy: the Role of Environmental and Technological Factors

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Abstract

This work aims discussing the contribution of environmental and technological factors in rock art painting preservation, based on a 3-year experimental program and two archaeological cases from Patagonia (South America). Concerning technological factors, microscopic information of experimental and archaeological contexts indicate that fine-grained pigments have a better preservation potential than coarse-grained ones, likely related to the high binder adsorption capacity of silty and clay size particles, resulting in a strong pigment agglutination and substrate adherence. Mechanical entrapment/translocation of such small particles into the substrate further contributes to preservation. The experiment also evidences that blood-bearing paints present preservation advantages over fat/water-based ones, probably due to clotting and drying processes which agglutinate pigments and seal rock voids, avoiding binder migration. In contrast, experimental gypsum- and, to a lesser extent, charcoal-based paints show a rapid and significant deterioration, particularly in the temperate and humid context. The low archaeological expectancy derived from these results is supported by the scarce and/or ambiguous regional representation of these black pigments in ancient Patagonian paintings. Among natural factors, water-related processes (i.e., rainfall, snow, freezing and water infiltration) play a decisive role in the physicochemical paint degradation, also favoring bioactivity. Raman spectroscopy of neoformed white crystals in experimental paints may evidence, in a short term, a first stage of the profuse biomineralizations archaeologically observed, associated with lichens, fungus, and endolithic organisms. Finally, sheep rubbing and wind abrasion are proposed as the main agents affecting vertical frequencies and integrity of archaeological motifs at the cave and open-air contexts, respectively, whereas differences related to cardinal insolation likely impact in frequencies, motif color and weathering stages at the open-air site too.

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The dataset generated during this research are included in the text or as Online Resource. Further details can be obtained from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Vet. Francisco Milicevic who installed the Rio Gallego station in his farm and has gently provided us photographic controls and observations. Laboratory processing and interpretation of metallographic thin sections (macroscopy with reflective light) were carried out with the collaboration of the technician Sr. Cesar Ramesal and Dr. Anabel Gómez, respectively. We also thank Carlos Nuevo, Cecilia Pallo, and Dante Oriolo Ozán for their help in the search of some specific raw materials for the experimentation. We are deeply grateful to Mayor Alejandro Avendaño, the families Roselló, Solsona, Pérez del Barrio, and Mosqueira. The valuable comments of Editors and Reviewers substantially improved the quality of this research.

Funding

Archaeological studies were funded by the National Agency of Promotion of Research, Technological Development and Innovation (PICT project 2017-2141), the National Council of Research and Technology (PIP project 023ONICET), and the University of Buenos Aires (UBACyT project 20020170100141 BA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Instituto de Geociencias Básicas, Aplicadas y Ambientales de Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160 (C1428EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ivana L. Ozán & Sebastián Oriolo

  2. CONICET, UBA, Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medio Ambiente y Energía (INQUIMAE), Intendente Güiraldes 2160 (C1428EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Lucía Gutiérrez

  3. CONICET, Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, 3 de Febrero 1378 (C1426BJN), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Analía Castro Esnal

  4. Pigment Index for Color Determination, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Andrés Latorre

  5. CONICET, UBA, INQUIMAE, Intendente Güiraldes 2160 (C1428EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    María A. Castro

  6. CONICET, UBA, Instituto de Micología y Botánica, Laboratorio de Micología Experimental, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Intendente Güiraldes 2160 (C1428EHA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Alejandra Fazio

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Ozán, I.L., Oriolo, S., Gutiérrez, L. et al. Rock Art Painting Taphonomy: the Role of Environmental and Technological Factors. J Archaeol Method Theory (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-023-09619-4

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