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The language of Iberian rock art
The language of Iberian rock art
Rock art is certainly one of the oldest known forms of human expression. Today but interpretable with modern eyes, a complete comprehension of the phenomenon often remains out of reach. In this session, participants present a series of analyses and interpretations given for the anthropomorphic and gender-differentiated rock art and engravings found in central Portugal around the Zêzere, Ceira and Alva Rivers. Landscape analysis and insights from archaeo-astronomy demonstrate a connection between these engravings and fertility rituals as well as rites associated with mountains, water and even the recognition of cycles of nature which might underlie a naturalistic and perhaps polytheistic view of their world and the cosmos.
Anchors in Time and Space: prehistoric Portuguese skyscapes in their environmental and social context
Fernando Pimenta, Luís Tirapicos and Fabio Silva, Portuguese Association for Archaeological Investigation (APIA)
This presentation will focus on six case studies from the western part of the Iberian Peninsula, representative of prehistoric contexts found in other parts of the world, that range from megalithic structures to rock art and caves. They illustrate how prehistoric skyscapes provided not only spatial axes for the construction of structures that align with celestial objects and events but, perhaps more importantly, how they also served as temporal anchors moored to important moments of transition in the environment and in the social lives of these prehistoric communities.
Emotions displayed in Portuguese rock art
Sílvio Manuel Brito, Department of Social Sciences, Polytechnical Institute, Tomar
Rock art from the Iberian Peninsula associated with anatomically modern humans and possibly Neanderthals demonstrate that ancient humans communicated emotions intelligently, effectively, and in a proactive way. An emotion is a neuronal and chemical reaction vis-à-vis a stimulus. According to Damásio (1994), emotional and sentimental processes are indispensable for rationality. Emotions can be divided into positive and negative ones. Examples of the former include relief, joy, pleasure, love, affection, and pride. Examples of the latter relate to negative states of mind such as disgust, envy, jealousy, sorrow, guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, and anger. In this talk, we analyze several rock art formations that express both kinds of emotions in order to gain deeper insight into the range of emotions displayed by early humans.
Symbolic representations of genitalia in the rock art of the Zêzere / Ceira and Alva Rivers (Portugal), a form of language
Nuno Ribeiro & Anabela Joaquinito, Portuguese Association for Archaeological Investigation (APIA)
The authors propose a hypothesis for the numerous rock art engravings found in the areas around the Zêzere/ Ceira and Alva Rivers of central Portugal. Many of these engravings are anthropomorphic and they clearly depict the male and female genitals. In our analysis, we will be connecting these engravings to rituals of fertility and cycles of nature. We will also present several studies that have been done on landscape analysis and archeoastronomy and investigate the symbolic role of mountains and water for ancient humans and their totemic, polytheistic and naturalistic view of their world and cosmos.
Nuno Ribeiro is a field archaeologist and the President of the Portuguese Association for Archaeological Investigation. He obtained his PhD in 2014 at the Faculty of Geography and History at the University of Salamanca in Spain. He currently works as a consultant archaeologist for some of the largest Portuguese companies, and he is responsible for more than 150 rock art studies and archaeological excavations since 1995. He has published over 300 articles in regional, national, and foreign media and he has participated in several international conferences.
Anabela Joaquinito is a researcher for the Portuguese Association of Archaeological Investigation, and an urban field archaeologist in Emerita, a former Roman colony located in current Spain. She obtained her Master at the Faculty of Geography and History at Salamanca University. Her main research interests include Pre- and Proto-History, stone industries, engravings, rock paintings and megalithic structures. She has also done extensive work in mainland Portugal on the Muge Shell Middens, Serra da Estrela (Star Mountain) Rock Art, and Lisbon urban archaeology as well as on the Megalithic Structures of the Azores Islands.
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