Department of History, Geography and Philosophy, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain.
Cueva de Ardales, Ardales, Malaga, Spain.
PLoS One. 2022 Jun 1;17(6):e0266788. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266788. eCollection 2022.
The Cueva de Ardales is a hugely important Palaeolithic site in the south of the Iberian Peninsula owing to its rich inventory of rock art. From 2011-2018, excavations were carried out in the cave for the first time ever by a Spanish-German research team. The excavation focused on the entrance area of the cave, where the largest assemblage of non-figurative red paintings in the cave is found. A series of 50 AMS dates from the excavations prove a long, albeit discontinuous, occupation history spanning from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. The dating of the Middle Palaeolithic layers agrees with the U/Th dating of some red non-figurative paintings in the entrance area. In addition, a large assemblage of ochre lumps was discovered in the Middle Palaeolithic layers. Human visits of the cave in the Gravettian and Solutrean can be recognized, but evidence from the Aurignacian and Magdalenian cannot be confirmed with certainty. The quantity and nature of materials found during the excavations indicate that Cueva de Ardales was not a campsite, but was mainly visited to carry out non-domestic tasks, such as the production of rock art or the burial of the dead.
阿尔达勒洞穴是伊比利亚半岛南部一个非常重要的旧石器时代遗址，因其丰富的岩画而闻名。自 2011 年至 2018 年，一个由西班牙和德国研究人员组成的团队首次对该洞穴进行了挖掘。挖掘工作集中在洞穴的入口区域，这里发现了洞穴中最大的一组非具象红色绘画。一系列来自挖掘现场的 50 个 AMS 测年证明，该遗址的人类居住历史悠久，尽管断断续续，从中石器时代一直延续到新石器时代。中石器时代地层的年代与入口处一些红色非具象绘画的 U/Th 年代测定结果一致。此外，在中石器时代地层中还发现了大量的赭石块。可以识别出在格拉维特时期和梭鲁特时期人类对洞穴的访问，但奥瑞纳文化和马格德林文化时期的证据不能被确定。挖掘过程中发现的材料的数量和性质表明，阿尔达勒洞穴不是一个营地，而是主要用于进行非家庭任务，如制作岩画或埋葬死者。
