Cova eirÓs: An integrated approach to dating the earliest known cave art in NW Iberia

Identifier:  imarina:9285532

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9285532

Authors:  Steelman, Karen L; de Lombera-Hermida, Arturo; Vinas-Vallverdu, Ramon; Pedro Rodriguez-Alvarez, Xose; Carrera-Ramirez, Fernando; Rubio-Mora, Albert; Fabregas-Valcarce, Ramon

Abstract:
At Cova Eirós, we discovered 13 panels with paintings and engravings that stylistically point to the final moments of the Upper Paleolithic. Scanning electron microscopy wiThenergy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy were used to identify charcoal as black pigment. Although contamination from medieval fires inside the cave complicates the dating of these pictographs, analyses of unpainted rock backgrounds allowed calculation corrections for contaminated samples. We used plasma oxidation and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to directly radiocarbon (14C) date two charcoal paintings—confirming that the images are more than 9000 yr old. As these paintings superimpose engravings, these14C dates also provide a minimum age for an engraving at Cova Eirós that is stylistically Final Magdalenian/Epipaleolithic. This is the first known evidence of Paleolithic cave art in Galicia of NW Iberia. © 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.