Paper short abstract:

This paper draws on contrasting rock art traditions that coexisted in north-west Iberia from the Neolithic. It explores the means by which different processes of giving form and manipulating matter bring together evidence about the essence of opposing, yet complementary, worlds.

Paper long abstract:

Rock is both the backdrop and the raw material for the creation of prehistoric art on natural formations. Insights into manufacturing processes, from the techniques and raw materials employed to the arrangement of motifs on the rock face may help unveiling parts of the worlds to which different stylistic traditions were attached. North-western Iberia is a particularly interesting to study this question for it is the area of convergence of two major, and partly contemporary, European prehistoric art traditions - Atlantic Art and Schematic Art paintings - that echo different supra-regional connections. The former appear as carvings on open-air granite outcrops, is an eminently abstract style dominated by curvilinear motifs and its distribution spreads along the Atlantic façade. The latter is typically painted on rock shelters, it is characterised by the depiction of the human figure and is mostly found across western Mediterranean regions. Coincidentally, the transition area between the two corresponds to the limits between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean biogeographical areas of Europe.

This paper will examine how the dialogue between matter and materials in the imagery creating process incorporates the essence of each of these rock art traditions.