RupScience: Review of operational chains, Archaeometry and Chronology of rock art paintings. A technological approach to material in contexts of Portugal and Spain

This project investigates the processes involved in the production of prehistoric paintings using organic and inorganic pigments. The focus of the discussion is on several rock shelter sites containing rock art in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, with reference to the sites containing schematic rock art. It is not possible to date rock art made with inorganic pigments directly. However, sampling and subsequent analysis have clearly shown that pigments were made according to well-established recipes, sometimes using organic binders. This project examines the chemical and mineralogical properties of pigments sampled from a selected number of sites in Spain and Portugal and suggests that pigmentation was more than just the application of paint to rock.