Hi! Let´s go again! Today is #fridaypaleoart in @before_art with

->Cave: #Nerja
-Place: Maro (Nerja) Málaga, Spain.
-Motif: small red marks
-Chronology: #UpperPalaeolithic

#CuevadeNerja is a large cave of the south of Iberian Peninsula, discovered in 1959.

There is a large ensemble of Palaeolithic art (32 figurative motifs, 254 signs) studied and published by Dr. J.L. Sanchidrián in 1994.

Like this deer (or a horse with a hind head) dated in #Solutrean (19,900 ± 210 uncal. BP)

but the most frequent remains are unintentional red marks. Before of the paper of some members of @Before_art ( @MMedinaAlcaide , @GarateDiego #Sanchidrián) this marks gained significance as a source of historical information:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618216304256

These random marks usually appear in narrow places, and can be related with the frequentation of the of the Palaeolithic groups inside of the caves, representing a large percentage of the prehistoric motifs in #CuevadeNerja, up to 98% in some cases.

One of the hypotheses is that the prehistoric groups had their skin, clothing or hair impregnated in red pigment. In the image women of the #Himba ethnic group of #Namibia.

In the General Project on Interdisciplinary Research Applied to the Conservation of the #NerjaCave and in the @Before_art project, we are examining the entire cavern looking these marks, being a difficult job due to the large number of them, their small size and their faded color

Remember that the cave can be visited, despite the fact that visits related to the historical heritage are limited to preserve its conservation.

http://www.cuevadenerja.es/ 
( @CuevadeNerja)

Antonio Torres ( @Torres_Riesgo).

End of thread!!