DATING PRE-HISTORIC PAINTED FIGURES FROM THE SERRA DA CAPIVARA NATIONAL PARK, PIAUÍ, BRAZIL (original) (raw)
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Radiocarbon, 2013
The question of when the first humans arrived in the New World has been a bone of contention for several decades. Similarly, the age of rock paintings has been heatedly debated. Settlements in the Serra da Capivara National Park have been dat ed to between 5 kyr and >50 kyr, which is far older than the Clovis barrier. Moreover, calcite formation on a rock-wall pain t in g in a rockshelter yielded thermoluminescence (TL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) ages older than 35 kyr BP (Watanabe et al. 2003). In an attempt to contribute to this ongoing debate, we have studied calcite deposits covering prehistoric pain tin gs fro m several rockshelters (Toca da Bastiana, Toca do Serrote de Moendas, and Toca da Gameleir-inha [Pedra pintada]). Co u p led A MS (accelerator mass spectrometry) 14 C and MC-ICPMS (multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectromet ry) 230 Th/ U dating was performed in Toca da Gameleirinha. The ages obtained for these cal-cites are younger than 12 kyr and suggest t hat t he paintings could be more recent than proposed by previous studies.
Abstract: 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 14C), 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 14C (or even using other elements such as 226Ra or 231Pa) 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 14C 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.
Amazônica - Revista de Antropologia - Periódicos UFPA, 2011
This report covers the field season from December 19th, 2009 to March 1st 2010. The objectives were to make archaeoastronomy measurements of the rock art at Serra da Lua and Painel do Pilão that might coincide with the Winter Solstice on December 21st, to locate and record all the previously recorded and published rock art of the region, and to locate and excavate art-related sites at Serra da Lua and Gruta 15 de Março in order to produce more dates that coincide with the age of the art. However, during this field season the most surprising results were the discoveries of previously unrecorded rock art. Although dates for the new art have not been determined, they are believed to be authentic and ancient, not recent graffiti or imitations, due to the remote locations and pristine conditions in which they were found. Este relatório cobre a obra de campo de dia 19 de dezembro em 2009 ate 1 de março em 2010. Os objetivos deviam para fazer medidas de archaeoastronomy da arte rupuestre em Serra da Lua e Painel do Pilão que talvez coincida com o Solstício de Inverno no 21 de dezembro, para localizar e registrar todos os sitios da arte rupuestre no região que foram registrado previamente, e para localizar e escavar locais relacionados com os desenhos em Serra da Lua e Gruta 15 de Março para produzir mais datas que coincidem com a idade da arte. No entanto, durante este obra do campo os resultados mais inesperados eram as descobertas de arte rupuestre novos previamente sem registro. Embora que os datas para a nova arte não são determinados, eles são acreditados ser autênticos e antigos, não pichações recentes nem imitações, porque às localizações remotas e condições puras em que eles foram encontrados.
2010
This article is a part of the results of the master thesis, which aim was to improve significantly the studies of the conditions of pictorial elements in a rock art mural, that is, to know the materials that were used and their interactions with the open air. This academic exercise introduces new aspects in the research process concerning the materials present in these rock art works and leads up to the works about technology of pigments in the studied area, extending the descriptive possibilities of the conservation conditions of rock art. The study of the materials opens a route towards the conservation work, and constitutes an essential way for the projected studies on dating. In this work, pigments were analyzed, some accretions, the rock substrate and the possible raw material of the rock art paintings. This analysis was done using Spectrometry Infrared. This investigation process is set in the context that the research group GIPRI has developed, as an extension of the methodol...
Quaternary International, 2019
Since the 1980s, a French-Brazilian archaeological mission has studied the economic, social, cultural and symbolic dimensions of the oldest prehistoric settlements found to date in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. The ongoing examination of these habitats, settlements and rock-art sites seeks to better understand the territories and cultures of the precolonial groups who inhabited the southernmost part of Mato Grosso. In the course of these decades, systematic prospections in the region of the Vermelho River uncovered over a hundred sites decorated with both figurative and non-figurative paintings, drawings and carvings that depict images such as animals, humans and signs. This article analyzes the most recent discoveries of rock-art sites identified on the banks of the Vermelho and Gavião rivers. It contextualizes the region and the researches undertaken in its territory, and outlines the previous approaches and the methodology adopted at its rock-art sites. It then describes these rock-art sites and discusses the originality and the symbolic continuity of the marks left by precolonial groups in their landscape.
Dating Iberian prehistoric rock art: Methods, sampling, data, limits and interpretations
Quaternary International, 2020
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.
Project central (Bahia, Brazil): Rock art in the Chapada Diamantina uplands
v. 8 n. 1, 1994
Iniciado em 1982, o Projeto Central cobre uma área de 105.000 m2 com o seu epicentro no município de Central, no coração da caatinga. Um dos objetivos do projeto é estudar as milhares de pinturas rupestres da área, das quais aquelas com representações de mamíferos tem sido estudadas delicadamente desde 1987 (Beltrão e Lock, 1988). Sítios no quartzito pré-cambiano, no município de Morro do Chapéu na borda nordeste da Chapada Diamantina, contém considerável número de pinturas, principalmente mamíferos (veados), seguido por antropomorfos e pássaros. Nestes sítios 94% das pinturas representam "biomorfos em ação" e 6% das figuras são "biomorfos estáticos".
Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, T. 111, 2, p. 211-224
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 14C), 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 14C (or even using other elements such as 226Ra or 231Pa) 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 14C 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.
PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE ROCK ART FROM BURACAS DA SERRA, ALVAIÁZERE (PORTUGAL)
This article aims to make public the archaeological site Buracas da Serra (municipality of Alvaiázere), which reveals the presence of a possible engraving of astral character, contributing to the understanding of Late Prehistory and Protohistory in the region. The first archaeological information mentioning the existence of rock art in this area was presented by Alexandra Figueiredo, on a report regarding archaeological work in the dolmen Anta I de Rego da Murta (Rego da Murta, Alvaiázere), in 2003 (Figueiredo, 2003), and developed in a deeper way during the presentation of a PhD thesis, in 2007 (Figueiredo, 2007), mentioning the existence of prehistoric art in the municipality of Alvaiázere, namely engravings and possible paintings on Anta I do Rego da Murta and engravings on the menhir of the same megalithic complex. After this work, archaeological interventions carried out in Alvaiázere and visits to new sites have enabled to reference more traces observed in cave context or on horizontal outcrops located in open spaces, connected with the mentioned megalithic complex or with the Alvaiázere Sierra. These discoveries have led to the proposal of a research project directed to the cavities of the Nabão river (2010-2011), integrated in the project PNTA ANTROPE – Anthropization of spaces – forms of adaptation of the natural resources and continuity of human occupations in Prehistory-and Protohistory in Extremadura (Portugal). One of the recorded sites was an engraving of astral typology, in the site Buracas da Serra. This figure appears isolated, in a cavity oriented to the East. The present symbolism, the carving technique and the proximity to some archaeological sites allows assigning it, chronologically, to a period between Late Prehistory and Protohistory.
Uranium-series dating of carbonate formations overlying Paleolithic art: interest and limitations
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 14C), 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 14C (or even using other elements such as 226Ra or 231Pa) 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 14C 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.