Estudio de la composición en el arte levantino

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the study of Levantine Rock Art has been one of the most interesting fields of research for archaeologists, given that they were the oldest graphic narratives of the western Mediterranean cultures and the eastern fringe of the Iberian Peninsula, but the Researchers' controversies about its origin and dating were never proven until the second half of the 1980s due to the absence of reliable data. (The fact that there were no sites clearly linked to the groups with paintings was one of the essential problems. And without demonstrable chronologies, the topic was the focus of academic discussions for many years until the author of this thesis between 1986 and 1989 had the enormous luck to be able to identify, excavate, date and later publish in 1992 the study of the epipaleolithic (or mesolithic) materials of the “Abrigo de Angel” (Castellote, Teruel) with three Carbon 14 samples that were totally coherent and reliable, dating the geometric epipaleolithic or mesolithic levels, between 8,060 (+/-270 BP) and 8,150 (+/-170BP), in this shelter where the Levantine paintings of several incomplete quadrupeds (possibly bovids), as well as archers, were found. naturalists (from two moments judging by their size and their different state of conservation) with silhouettes similar to those of the best naturalist archers in the Castellón area, running with their legs extended and their bows and arrows in their hands. (“New data on the middle basin of the Guadalope River: El Abrigo del Barranco Hondo and El Abrigo de Ángel”, Teruel Magazine 1992)). In those same years, the author of this thesis was working on the topic of composition in Levantine prehistoric art, carrying out a systematic analysis of the pictorial groups that could be recognized as intentional compositions, captured in the stone panels of the rock shelters in the area. previously studied for his undergraduate report (from the Aragonese Pyrenees to Júcar River, including the rock shelters with paintings located further west in Aragón, Cuenca, Teruel and Valencia) in which those that contained the existing scenes that were collected and analyzed in this thesis, after verifying the intentional and narrative composition of what was represented, which evidenced the clear intention of association of the painters to capture the characters carrying out different activities. The work of the painters, their skill and technical capacity were very evident when observing how on some occasions they were able to create these coherent compositions as well as coherent added new figures to a scene or to an already existing set of figures, in wich “second painters” participated in thisscenes (hunting, dancing, human confrontations, executions, animal captures, etc.). And it was equally significant that the postures and logical directions of movements are reflected with a great sense of perspective and action, as well as that no “failures or regrets” (in the pictorial sense) will be observed in the figures. The paintings had been published in many cases between the 20s and 60s of the 20th century by various archaeologists, but they did not have in those years certain dates nor were there systematic global studies on those simple but significant facts that showed the skill and narrative interest of “the first and later often of those second painters” who left us evidence of their appreciation and interest in reflecting their own life and activities. (And most likely they would have the narrative intention in which they “immortalized themselves”). This research on 108 groups of paintings, now attributable to the Epipaleolithic and later periods (some with several different shelters), involved the study of 132 panels with figures coherently associated in one way or another, which represented an immersion in this Levantine Rock Art so singular and full of life, as well as in the intelligence, technical and creative capacity of its painters, given that this was the first narrative art in the history of humanity made with the appropriate meaning and techniques to transmit in a clear and understandable way the actions they developed, capturing the posture of the characters, “the movement, speed and actions” of the figures, as well as the shared “activity”, whose dynamism was very expressive, achieving the natural and intentional narration of creators who They lived in the area where these paintings are preserved. The methodology already defined by the author in 1985 on the composition of the paintings contemplated what were the essential elements to accept the existence of “a scene”: the thematic unity, the stylistic unity, the scenic articulation, the common or relatable attitude, the coherent sense of description, perspective and a common configurative technical concept (pp. 109-112). And at a technical level, foreshortening appears, “a sophisticated technique” in which some parts of the body see their proportions altered or part of the bodies disappear to achieve the coherence of a posture. For this reason, the pictorial concepts they use surpass the simple drawings of the figures, since it is a complex technique that goes beyond what could be done intuitively. (And it is curious that, as happens in Paleolithic Art, there are no remains of what could have been a “certain teaching” of those Levantine painters, whose lines of the figures are firm and sure when painting the silhouettes of the human body and the of animals in different attitudes and positions..). But in addition, "cumulative scenes" are found in the shelters: sets that start from a scene or group with a specific style to which other figures generally made with other pictorial concepts, were later coherently incorporated, whose intentionality was evident) (pp. 113 and 114). And it was especially useful to begin to understand the interest of the painters themselves, based on the systematic analysis, of the themes they immortalized (hunting scenes, gathering scenes, dances/rituals, executions, human confrontations, animal capture, as well as others singular themes (pp.1011-1019). Regarding their significance, the themes are generally identifiable, when dealing with normal events in the life of hunters, although there are more complex scenes, such as those linked to dances, fights between groups, executions, shootings, generally carried out with simpler concepts (generally rougher and/or filiform) painted in the last stages, etc., but in general it is a very vital art that reflects the life itself, the agility, the strength and the movement of characters willing to get their food, hunting deer, goats, wild boars; but they also painted death (executions, animals). They represent strong and agile characters (it is interesting that no obese figures appear...) and the most dangerous animals, almost always painted in a naturalistic concept, were the wolf, the lynx and the wild boar judging by the representations. This was a long and intense work and it seems impossible to convey the enormous interest of all the groups studied in these few pages, but in any case, the rigorous immersion in so many representations allowed us to understand the enormous historical and cultural interest, as well as the value that these paintings must have for the painters, representations, in many of which they must have reflected themselves and the other characters in each scene. The scarce representation of women, and the non-existence of the elderly people and children, remains interesting, as well as the fact that they did not capture other themes linked to their own lives, such as the representation of their habitat, something that we specialists would have liked to be able to know. And without a doubt, the occupation of these suitable places for hunting could have been seasonal and in periods of mild temperatures judging by the constant represented exposed bodies.