Paper short abstract:

In this paper I combine a processual approach with digital imaging technologies (e.g. RTI, close range photogrammetry) to the study of rock art carvings. Focus will be placed on the dynamic interplay between people, tools and the rock surface.

Paper long abstract:

Formal approaches to rock art traditionally focused on meaning and representation. Rock art images and panels were treated as static representations of symbolic frameworks while their materiality and active role in cultural production were overlooked. Rock art is the product of the dynamic interplay between people, tools and the rock surface. The properties of the rock panel have the capacity to shape rock art production as much as the skill and knowledge held by the engraver/painter and the social context in which these engagements take place. Furthermore, rock art panels may accrue complex biographies via multiple engagements.

Here I combine a processual approach with digital imaging technologies (e.g. RTI, close range photogrammetry) to the study of rock art carvings as a way forward to address these questions. By focusing on Iberian warrior stelae as process (how they were made, reworked, etc.), relevant details emerge: despite iconographic standardisation there is variability in the techniques and procedures deployed which are linked to the interplay between the stone, the skill of the carver and her/his knowledge of local rock art traditions; stelae can be reworked at later stages and reused in a variety of ways, opening up a debate about the temporality of rock art traditions.