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Rock
Art Preservation - Raising Awareness, and new Scientific Discoveries
Beyond
size: The potential of a geometric morphometric analysis of shape and
form
for the assessment of sex in hand stencils in rock art
By: Emma Nelson, Jason
Hall, Patrick Randolph-Quinney, Anthony Sinclair
Journal of Archaeological
Science Volume 78,
February 2017, Pages 202–213
Available online 13 December
2016
Highlights
• Geometric morphometric techniques
were used to assess the sex of the makers of hand stencils.
• Using the form of the
stencil, we were able to correctly predict sex in over 90% of our
sample.
• The form of the palm is
particularly sexually dimorphic and may help us predict sex from
stencils with missing digits.
• Researchers should
collaborate to develop methods of sex-prediction in living
populations before analyzing ancient images.
Abstract
Hand stencils are some of the
most enduring images in Upper Palaeolithic rock art sites across the
world; the earliest have been dated to over 40 Kya in Sulawesi and 37
Kya in Europe. The analysis of these marks may permit us to know more
about who was involved in the making the of prehistoric images as
well as expanding the literature on the evolution of human behaviour.
A number of researchers have previously attempted to identify the sex
of the makers of Upper Palaeolithic hand stencils using methods based
on hand size and digit length ratios obtained from digital or
photo-based images of modern reference samples.
Some analyses report that it was
males who were responsible for the majority of hand stencils, whilst
the most recent analysis determined that females produced the
majority of hand stencils. Taken together, however, these studies
generate contrasting and incompatible interpretations. In this study
we critically review where we currently stand with methods of sexing
the makers of hand stencils and the problems for the interpretation
of hand markings of Palaeolithic age.
We then present the results of a
new method of predicting the sex of individuals from their hand
stencils using a geometric morphometric approach that detects sexual
differences in hand shape and hand form (size and shape). The method
has the additional advantage of being able to detect these
differences in both complete, as well as partial hand stencils.
Finally we urge researchers to
test this method on other ethnic groups and populations and consider
ways of combining efforts towards a common goal of developing a
robust, predictive methodology based on diverse modern samples before
it is applied to Upper Paleolithic hand stencils.
Keywords: Palaeolithic; Cave art; Sex
assessment; Geometric morphometrics; Biometrics; Forensic
anthropology
Scientific
Paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440316301649
(PDF available)
General
Article here:
https://theconversation.com/how-forensic-science-can-unlock-the-mysteries-of-human-evolution-69662
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Palaeolithic
art developed from public galleries towards exhibitions of a more
private nature
Published Online: Wednesday, January 25, 2017
A researcher at the
UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country proposes analysing
characteristics such as the location and visibility of Palaeolithic
works to try to deduce their purpose
Blanca Ochoa, a researcher in
the UPV/EHU's department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology,
proposes analysing the spaces in which the artistic figures of the
Palaeolithic are represented to try and deduce the purpose of these
expressions. In her study she observed chronological differences in
the location of the drawings and engravings, which could indicate
that the function and meaning of cave art gradually changed
throughout the Upper Palaeolithic.
URL: http://www.ehu.eus/en/en-content/-/asset_publisher/l57S/content/n_20170125-investigacion-blanca-ochoa
ARARA
Editor’s note: This is an article about Ms. Ochoa’s Ph.D.
Dissertation “Time and networks
in Palaeolithic cave art: La Covaciella cave (Asturias, Spain)”
in English. Her
dissertation which is only available to paid viewers/or academic
servers is in French. If
you have access and can read French the paper information is located:
here http://www.em-consulte.com/article/1098930/alertePM The
abstract is translated into English.
_____________________________________________
HR 2393 - Scientific
Research in the National Interest Act
A bill recently passed in the
House (11 Feb) and currently in the Senate. Noted here as information to those researchers and
scientists who might need to be aware of it.
URL – Congress . gov: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3293/all-info
URL – Govtrack : https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr3293/summary
URL – Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/us-house-tees-controversial-bill-nsf-research
Rock
Art Events
Field
Trip to Little Lake – California by the California Rock Art
Organization
Date: February 25th 2017
Location: Little Lake Ranch , California
Time: 9:00am
Host: Dr. Alan Gold
Maximum Attendance: 20
Registration and
Information URL: http://www.carockart.org/events.html
The Little Lake area
encompasses 5,000 acres and contains several petroglyphs and
pictographs dating to around 10,000 years ago, as well as the Stahl
site exhibiting evidence of the Pinto Basin tradition dating between
5,000 and 2,000 years ago. Much of the rock art is in the Coso
tradition. There are images of atlatl, bear paws, projectile points,
human and animal figures, and sheep. The lake is spring fed and
formed about 5,000 years ago. There is a one million year old basalt
flow along the eastern edge of the lake, and a prominent volcanic
cinder cone to the north that formed about 10,000 years ago.
We will meet at the gate
entrance to Little Lake Ranch at 9:00 am, Saturday, February 25th.
The entrance is located on Highway 395 and there is a small sign at
the gate that says "Little Lake Ranch".
You will need and/or may want
to bring: water, lunch and snacks, hat, jacket/rain jacket, good
hiking shoes, a cell phone, sunscreen, lip balm, allergy medications,
camera - telephoto lens, binoculars, sketchbook, and a notebook.
The hiking will be minimal
and not very strenuous; a walking stick may be useful. We should be
able to drive from site to site on dirt roads; four-wheel drive is
helpful but not necessary. Lowered vehicles are not recommended.
Carpools will be worked out after we enter the property and before we
start the tour. There is a picnic area with a bathroom where we will
break for lunch.
It is possible that we may
encounter various wildlife, including rattle snakes. Please be aware
of your surroundings. Please
abide by the following rules: do not touch the rock art, no walking
on the rock art, no animals, and no children under the age of 5.
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Celebrate
Cedar Mesa - Presented by The
Friends of Cedar Mesa
Date: March 3rd
to 5th 2017
Location: Bears Ears - Near Bluff, Utah
Host: The Friends of Cedar Mesa
Event Sponsor: Osprey
Packs
Registration and
Information URL: https://www.friendsofcedarmesa.org/celebrate/
Bears Ears:
What lies ahead?
Celebrate Cedar Mesa is our
annual gathering for people who care about the greater Cedar Mesa
area and all of the fantastic public lands in San Juan County. This
year’s event will be a true celebration with the recent designation
of the Bears Ears National Monument! Join us for a weekend of fun, including a keynote
by author Craig Childs.
Full schedule of events – including hikes and workshops - available
at URL above.
Registration is critical, as this year’s event will
likely sell out.
Lodging & Camping –
If you are looking for a
place to stay, BluffUtah.org has great ideas of local hotels. The FCM
reserved campsite at Sand Island is now full. Please make your own camping
arrangements at Sand Island or elsewhere.
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February Meeting of the Southern
Nevada Rock Art Association
Date: January 27th
2017
Location: The REI store -- 710 S Rampart Blvd, Las Vegas
89145
(in the
Boca Park shopping center near the intersections of Rampart and Alta
Drives)
Time: 6:45 to 8:30 pm.
Speaker: Aaron Wright speaking on
“The Painted Rock
Petroglyph Site Along the
Lower Gila River in Southwestern Arizona "
The Painted Rock Petroglyph Site is the most publicly
accessible rock art locality along the lower Gila River, and
debatably, in the entire state of Arizona. A listing on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1977 canonized the site’s significance
as a place of remarkable cultural heritage value and great scientific
potential. Surprisingly, however, a comprehensive site recording of
Painted Rock has never been published, and consequently little is
actually known about the archaeological context in general and the
rock art specifically. This talk reviews previous research and
situates the site in the archaeological and historical setting of the
lower Gila River.
Aaron Wright is a
Preservation Archaeologist with Archaeology Southwest, a Tucson non-profit
dedicated to exploring and protecting the places of our past. Aaron
earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Washington State University. He
later published his dissertation “Religion on the Rocks: Hohokam
Rock Art, Ritual Practice, and Social Transformation” (University
of Utah Press, 2014), which won the Donald D. and Catherine S.
Fowler Prize. He is currently collaborating on a campaign to
establish a Great Bend of the Gila National Monument, which would
include the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site.
For more complete
information, please visit the SNRAA Website at http://snraa.org/snraa.org/EVENTS.html
Upcoming SNRAA Meetings:
March 27th
— Troy Scotter “Utah Rock Art Styles”
April 24th — Jerry Dickey “TBA”
May —
“TBA”
Conferences
& Symposiums
2017 ARARA
Annual Conference
When: June 1st
to 5th 2017
Where:
The Lodge at Eagle Crest
Redmond, Oregon
The Conference Team:
Local Arrangements: Jim Keyser
Conference Coordinator: Monica Wadsworth-Seibel
Program Chair: Louis Hillman
For updates and further information: http://www.arara.org/conference.html
Planning continues for the
ARARA 2017 Annual Conference to be held June 1–5. In case you haven't
heard, the meetings will be in Redmond, Oregon. Redmond is just north
of Bend, which is between the Williamette and Ochoco National Forests
and is graced with the lovely Deschutes River. Jim Keyser is the area
Chair, and he and his team have already met with many locals to plan
for field trips.
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British Rock
Art Group (BRAG) 2017 Conference - 27-28th May 2017 Anglesey (Wales)
The 2016
conference will be held at the Oriel Ynys Môn Musuem and Arts Center
in Wales.
There will also be a fieldtrip in the 28th. Word is it will be quite
amazing.
Venue: Oriel
Ynys Môn in Rhosmeirch, Llangefni, Anglesey, Wales LL77 7TQ
(Oriel
Ynys Môn is a museum and arts center. A two-part center, the History
Gallery
provides
an insight into the island's culture, history and
environment.)
Organizers: Aron Mazel aron (dot) mazel
(at) newcastle (dot) ac (dot) co (dot) uk
Dr.
George Nash george (dot) nash (at) bristol (dot) ac
(dot) uk
There is no url for conference registration at this time.
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Second
Annual Peruvian Rock Art Conference in Cusco in 2017
When: August 14th to 18th 2017
Where:
Cusco Peru
For
updates and further information: https://sites.google.com/view/2raec-cusco/p%C3%A1gina-principal?authuser=0 (Has Video!)
The Peruvian of Rock Art
Association (APAR) has the honor of inviting rock art researchers of
Peru and the world to the Second International Conference on Rock Art
and Ethnography to be held in the city of Cusco, from August 14 to
18, 2017.
We consider that this is a
very important event to understand the native forms of seeing the
so-called "rock art" of the world, so we emphasize the
invitation to native savants and indigenous researchers in
non-Western traditional cognition related to sites with Rock art and
sacred places.
FRAO member Peruvian Rock Art
Association (APAR) will host the Second International Rock Art and
Ethnography Conference in the third week of August 2017. This event
follows the first conference of its type carried out in the city of
Cochabamba, Bolivia, in 2014, where the importance and scope of the
ethnography for the rock art research were discussed, with emphasis
in the Andes and Amazonia.
The Peruvian Rock Art
Association (APAR) invites all native savants, indigenous
researchers, academics in traditional cognition; professional
archaeologists and quilcas or rock art specialists of the world to
participate in this Second International Rock Art and Ethnography
Conference to be hosted in the city of Cusco in August 2017. We are
sure that the participation of all these researchers will bring new
knowledge and will help to change the paradigms of rock art research.
Sessions
This event is planned to
include five days of conferences, presentations and discussions.
For this, five sessions were
programmed, according to the following topics:
1. Ethnographic evidence of rock art
production around the world.
2. Research in ethnographic rock art
around the world.
3. Rock art sites as sacral spaces.
4. Ceremonial use of rock art sites, past
and present.
5. Traditional interpretations of rock
art sites.
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Rock Art
Worldings - Chronologies, materialities and ontologies
When: 23-26 October 2017
Where:
Linnæus University Conference in Kalmar, Sweden
Conference Details and Registration: https://lnu.se/en/research/conferences/RockArtWorldings
Linnæus University welcomes
you to a three-day conference focused on the Post-Paleolithic rock art
of northern Europe and beyond, and specifically, the relationship
between chronologies, materialities and ontologies. Building on
recent advances in the development of rock art chronologies, we wish
to investigate how these new understandings can be put to use in
exploring aspects of prehistoric materialities and ontologies. In the
wake of works by Viveiros de Castro, Ingold and Descola, among
others, and their reconsideration of humankind's ontologies, we hope
to address how rock art and related categories of material culture
can contribute to our understanding of the prehistory of northern
Europe and connected regions. Given that ontology is intimately
intertwined with social aspects, this conference focuses not only on
the 'conceptual world', but on a broad range of lived experiences and
how these are expressed, manifested and challenged through the use of
rock art media.
The keynote lecture for the
conference – Art beyond the Cave: rock art ontologies – will be
presented by Professor Andrew Meirion Jones, University of
Southampton (UK).
Field
Schools
Summer
school and Recording RockArt Fieldwork in Valcamonica, Italy –
July/August 2017
When: July - August 2017
Where: Riserva naturale Incisioni
rupestri di Ceto, Cimbergo e Paspardo
Via Piana 29, Nadro, 25040
Ceto, Italy
Deadline to Apply: 1 June 2017
Field School Type: Volunteer. No Academic Credit Offered.
Main
Website: http://www.rupestre.net (Not yet updated from the 2016 season)
Project
Director: Prof. Angelo Eugenio Fossati
(from an event notice)
In the wonderful framework of
the Landmarks Valley, recognized as UNESCO heritage since 1979, the
Centro Camuno of Studi Preistorici organize the annual recording
rock-art fieldwork aims at the documentation of the rock art in the
middle Valcamonica. Following the previous recording rock art
fieldwork, also this year the work will continue in the area of Foppe
di Nadro – Riserva naturale incisioni rupestri di Ceto, Cimbergo e
Paspardo (Valcamonica - Italy) on the concession of the
Soprintendenza Archeologia , Belle arti e Paesaggio.
The fieldwork will be
structured on 3 week sessions, it is required to participate for at
least 1-2 weeks.
Project Description
Valcamonica rock art (the first World Heritage List site
in UNESCO in Italy), is an alpine valley between the provinces of
Bergamo and Brescia in Northern Italy. In Valcamonica rock art constitutes an
archaeological, artistic, ethnographic and historical patrimony of
immense value, not only for its antiquity but, for the thematic and
iconographic wealth. As an active rock art center, member of IFRAO (International Federation of Rock
Art Organizations), the Footsteps of Man and the Catholic University
of Brescia, organize annual archaeology fieldwork at Paspardo, one of
the major concentrations of engravings in the area, giving those
interested (archaeologists and scholars, students and enthusiasts)
the opportunity to help the research and learn how to study rock art
at Valcamonica.
Project participants will:
survey, excavate, clean, photograph, draw and catalogue the rocks
engraved in three main sites at Paspardo, Valcamonica: Vite-Deria, La
Bosca, Castello. The project consists of different phases, some are
executed at the sites (survey
to find new engraved rocks; analysis of the level of damage to the
rock surfaces and conservation problems; contact tracing to record
the engravings using permanent pens on plastic sheets and photography),
and some in the laboratory (reduction
of drawing to scale; cataloguing of engravings). Training will be
given.
During each fieldwork
session, participants will also have evening lectures on rock art
subjects delivered by scholars of international fame, watch films,
and have the opportunity to visit other rock art sites (such as the National Park of
Naquane, at Capo di Ponte, the park of Foppe di Nadro, at Ceto, and
the Park of Bedolina-Seradina at Capo di Ponte), the Roman
National Museum and some medieval churches with beautiful frescoes
and sculptures.
In Paspardo accommodation is
provided in a communal house with rooms, dormitories, showers and
kitchen. Volunteers should bring: personal towels, work clothes and
gloves, gym shoes, sleeping bag, sun cream, sun hat and sun glasses.
Full information including travel to Paspardo and a bibliography will
be given to participants.
Period(s)
of Occupation: Neolithic to Medieval Time
Notes:
We are working on rock
engraved with images made by prehistoric and proto-historic people
mainly during the Neolithic (six
thousand years ago), Bronze Age and Iron Age (from four thousand to two thousand
years ago). You will learn how to trace the rock art and help us
in discovering new rocks engraved
Project size: 25-49 participants
Minimum Length of Stay for
Volunteers: One session (one week)
Minimum age: 16
Experience required: Keen eyes and open mind
Calls
for Papers
British
Rock Art Group (BRAG) 2017 Conference - 27-28th May 2017 Anglesey
(Wales)
The 2016 conference will be held at the Oriel
Ynys Môn Musuem and Arts Center in Wales.
Submission
Emails: Aron Mazel aron (dot) mazel (at) newcastle
(dot) ac (dot) co (dot) uk
Dr.
George Nash george (dot) nash (at) bristol (dot) ac
(dot) uk
_____________________________________________
20th
International Rock Art Congress (IFRAO) – Call For Papers
NEW Submission Deadline: February 15, 2017
Submission Type: Session Proposal
Submission Details at: http://www.ccsp.it/web/Ifrao2018/IFRAO2018_eng.html
Conference Theme: Standing on the shoulders of giants /
Sulle spalle dei giganti
Session proposals should
reach the congress secretariat by New
Deadline: February 15, 2017
The scientific committee will
meet on January 31 and the list of chosen sessions will be published.
The Centro Camuno di Studi
Preistorici (CCSP) and the Società Cooperativa Archeologica “Le Orme
dell’Uomo” (Footsteps of Man Archaeological Cooperative Society) have
the pleasure to invite you to the 20th International Rock Art
Congress which will be held in Valcamonica (Italy) from 29th of
August to the 2nd of September 2018.
This major event takes place
50 years after the first "Valcamonica Symposium", marking
30 years since the foundation of IFRAO and the 30th anniversary of
the Footsteps of Man Archaeological Cooperative Society.
The congress will cover a
range of topics relevant to rock art, archaeology, culture and
society, from its first appearance to current forms. During five
days, leading experts in the field, researchers along with young
scholars and enthusiasts, will gather and present the latest results
and studies on rock art, rupestrian archaeology and other relevant
research fields on Palaeolithic and Post-palaeolithic art of all over
the world. More than 30 sessions, workshops, key lectures, exhibitions,
visits with live streaming of certain events are being planned.
Excursions before and after the congress in Valcamonica and to others
areas of the Alps are also being programmed.
The organizers invite session
proposals, each led by at least two and a maximum of 4 people from at
least two different countries and organizations. The accepted
sessions will be chaired by at least two people attending the
congress. The chairpersons of each of the sessions will be asked to
promote, invite speakers, coordinate the presentation of papers and
edit the session proceedings.
Publications
The
Euro-American Discovery of the Coso Petroglyphs by
Alexander Rogers and Russell Kaldenberg
The Maturango
Museum is proud to announce the publication of a new book by authors
by Alexander Rogers and Russell Kaldenberg.
This book is the
result of several years’ research on the discovery of the
petroglyphs, prompted by
frequent questions on petroglyph tours. It describes the original
creation of the rock art, its initial observation by Euro-Americans
in 1860, and subsequent visitors, photographers, and investigators.
The authors conclude that the archaeology and rock art of the Coso
district were known prior to land withdrawal for the Navy in early
1944, but did not play a role in the withdrawal decision.
Both authors are
archaeologists with long experience in Coso. Alexander Rogers is an
archaeology curator at the Maturango Museum; Russell Kaldenberg is
former Command Archaeologist at China Lake, and was also the lead
archaeologist for the Bureau of Land Management in California.
The book is
available in the museum store, for $6.95.
Please contact
the museum at 760-375-6900, or at http://www.maturango.org for more information or
to place an order.
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Picture
Cave: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Mississippian Cosmos
Edited by Carol Diaz-Granados, James R. Duncan, and F. Kent
Reilly III.
Foreword by Patty Jo Watson.
Photographs of Picture Cave by Alan Cressler
269 b&w photos, 35 b&w illus, 1 map, 26 color illus, 7
maps, 185 color photos
ISBN: 978-0-292-76133-9
Published by: University of Texas Press April 2015
Publisher URL: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/diaz-granados-picture-cave Currently on sale for 33%
off!
Also available on
Amazon.
This extensively
illustrated volume provides the first complete visual documentation
and a pioneering iconographic analysis of Picture Cave, an eastern
Missouri cavern filled with Native American pictographs that is one
of the most important prehistoric sites in North America..
The entire book is
comprised of chapters by several scholars and American Indians on
this remarkable cave in eastern Missouri. Picture Cave contains 400+
paintings/drawings in black and red pigments. Black pigments have been
dated (by Marvin Rowe) to a weighted average of A.D. 1000, making
this one of the most important cave art sites in North America.
Technology
Labstretch2
An app for the Iphone to
assist rock art researchers in the field is available for free
download.
See http://www.rupestrian.com/labstretch.html
or
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/labstretch/id1049040326
Labstretch is still available for the IPad.
iDStretch
Now avaliable for Ipad and
Iphone! A mobile version of DStretch. Use your iPhone or iPad
in the field
to see faint or invisible rock art images. iDStretch is simple to
use, fast, and you can save the enhancements.
It does not need wifi or phone connection to work.
See the web page for more information: http://www.dstretch.com/iDStretch/index.html
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