Wisher Izzy, Palacio-Pérez Eduardo
Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
J Archaeol Method Theory. 2025;32(3):49. doi: 10.1007/s10816-025-09717-5. Epub 2025 Jun 12.
Cave sites were frequently reused throughout the Upper Palaeolithic, with many sites within south-western Europe having deep chronologies of activity. The repeated engagement with the same caves, or spaces within caves, is evident in superimpositions of cave art depictions within these sites. Whilst these palimpsests in Upper Palaeolithic cave art have been extensively studied with regard to understanding the relative chronology of art within a particular region or site, they have not been understood from an ontological perspective. Upper Palaeolithic artist's engagement with motifs produced by their predecessors, regardless of cultural continuity, may indicate dialogical interactions occurring across time between culturally and temporally distinct groups of hunter-gatherers. In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework-inspired by relationality and contemporary rock art production-for understanding these temporal interactions. Focusing on the case study of El Castillo, we argue that these engagements across time may tentatively indicate aspects of long-term continuity in the ontology of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, reflected in cave art palimpsests.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10816-025-09717-5.
洞穴遗址在上旧石器时代经常被反复使用，欧洲西南部的许多遗址都有悠久的活动年代记录。在这些遗址中，洞穴艺术描绘的叠加现象表明，人们反复使用同一个洞穴或洞穴内的空间。虽然上旧石器时代洞穴艺术中的这些重叠现象在理解特定地区或遗址内艺术的相对年代方面已得到广泛研究，但从本体论角度来看，它们尚未得到理解。上旧石器时代的艺术家对其前辈创作的图案的运用，无论文化是否具有连续性，都可能表明在文化和时间上不同的狩猎采集群体之间存在着跨越时间的对话互动。在本文中，我们提出了一个受关联性和当代岩石艺术创作启发的概念框架，用于理解这些时间上的互动。以埃尔卡斯蒂略洞穴为例，我们认为，这些跨越时间的运用可能初步表明了上旧石器时代狩猎采集者本体论中长期连续性的一些方面，这在洞穴艺术的重叠现象中得到了体现。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s10816-025-09717-5获取的补充材料。
