El Rock art at a microscopic scale. Advances on archaeometric and experimental study of application techniques of La Maria’s rock paintings (Province of Santa Cruz)

Avances en el estudio arqueométrico y experimental de las técnicas de aplicación de las pinturas rupestres de La María (provincia de Santa Cruz)

Abstract

The study of rock art's materials allows us to know various aspects related to its production, such as the understanding of pictorial techniques, which may influence on its conservation and interpretation. In the current work, the production techniques of rock paintings from La María (Province of Santa Cruz) were analysed with a micro-stratigraphic and experimental point of view. 30 rock painting micro-samples were taken from motifs with macroscopical differences regarding their technique and were compared to a group of 8 experimental micro-samples (which were made according to archaeologically inferred techniques). To achieve this goal, a wide set of quantitative and qualitative variables was considered. Results suggest the existence of morphological differences at a microscopic scale between samples from paintings produced with different application techniques, mainly associated with the shape of the pictorial layer's superior edge and thickness. This work highlights the importance of archaeometric study of rock art for studying its production processes. In addition, it is an invitation to think about micro-stratigraphic methodology, its capacities and limitations when approaching rock art painting techniques.