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New views on old hands: the context of stencils in El Castillo and La Garma Caves (Cantabria, Spain)

Pettitt, P.; Maximiano Castillejo, A.; Arias, P.; Ontañon Peredo, R.; Harrison, R.

New views on old hands: the context of stencils in El Castillo and La Garma Caves (Cantabria, Spain) Thumbnail


Authors

A. Maximiano Castillejo

P. Arias

R. Ontañon Peredo

R. Harrison



Abstract

Hand stencils are an intriguing feature of prehistoric imagery in caves and rockshelters in several parts of the world, and the recent demonstration that the oldest of those in Western Europe date back to 37 000 years or earlier further enhances their significance. Their positioning within the painted caves of France and Spain is far from random, but responds to the shapes and fissures in the cave walls. Made under conditions of low and flickering light, the authors suggest that touch—‘palpation’—as much as vision, would have driven and directed the locations chosen for these stencils. Detailed study of the images in two Cantabrian caves also allows different individuals to be distinguished, most of whom appear to have been female. Finally, the project reveals deliberate associations between the stencils and features on the cave walls.

Citation

Pettitt, P., Maximiano Castillejo, A., Arias, P., Ontañon Peredo, R., & Harrison, R. (2014). New views on old hands: the context of stencils in El Castillo and La Garma Caves (Cantabria, Spain). Antiquity, 88(339), 47-63. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00050213

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jun 20, 2013
Online Publication Date Jan 2, 2015
Publication Date Mar 1, 2014
Deposit Date Apr 1, 2015
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Antiquity
Print ISSN 0003-598X
Electronic ISSN 1745-1744
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 88
Issue 339
Pages 47-63
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00050213

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Copyright Statement
This article has been published in a revised form in Antiquity https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00050213. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2014





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