Uncovering the time-depth of rock art: seriation and agency in the case of Levantine rock art of eastern Iberia

Abstract

Eastern Iberia is home to one of the largest concentrations of rock art sites in Europe. Most of them have been attributed to post-glacial graphic traditions created in open-air shelters, often with a considerable number of superimpositions. One such tradition is Levantine art, whose iconography is of great significance for understanding Holocene social practices on a continental scale. In this article, we approach the relative temporality of this rock art style through examination of sites with a multitude of superimpositions. These palimpsests allow us to gain insight into the time-depth of these rock art traditions and the agency exercised by their authors with respect to the past and alterity. The article presents a novel and cutting-edge microarchaeological methodology and its applications to approach the sequence of Levantine art and its temporal and spatial relationships with other rock art, that could be useful for examining similar issues at a global scale.

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