European Art

The Palaeolithic Legacy

Bibliographic Data

ID6044262
AuthorsR G Bednarik (0000-0002-6388-0725, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume7
Issue2
Pages255-268
Publication date1997-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774300001967
OpenAlexW2106323310
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

The recent discovery of open-air rock engravings in the Côa valley of northern Portugal has been followed by a vigorous debate over their true age. On grounds of style and of stylistic parallels, many rock art specialists attribute the Côa engravings (and similar carvings at a handful of other sites in Iberia and southern France) to the Upper Palaeolithic, contemporary with the more famous cave art ofLascaux and elsewhere. Attempts so far to date the Côa engravings by scientific techniques have produced relatively recent age estimates for this art. Robert Bednarik has been among the strongest proponents of such a recent date, and in this noe he seeks to explain how the Côa art could be Holocene, or even late Holocene, yet still bear striking stylistic resemblance to carvings or other representations of known Palaeolithic age. In the spirit of the debate, we have invited three rock art experts to comment on Bednarik's theory of artistic continuity, and have appended his own reply to these responses

Ancient history · Archaeology · Cave · Holocene · Parallels · Rock art · Style (visual arts · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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