Research group ATLAS: territories and landscapes in the Late Prehistory of Andalusia

The research carried out about the rock art in the Northern side of the Barbanza Peninsula (Porto do Son, A Coruña) has been based on an intensive survey, together with a thorough review of the carved surfaces under natural and artificial light conditions. This approach has allowed us to increase both the number of the sites and also the iconographic variety of those previously known. As to the spatial distribution, we have found that the densest clusters of petroglyphs occur in the intermediate slopes between the coastal plain and the sierra. Some exceptions to this trend are noticeable, either in carved rocks found close to the sea or others near the highest points of the study area. Other findings worth noting are the petroglyphs retrieved inside two rock shelters (a very rare feature indeed in the Galician prehistoric art), the increase in the number of representations ofmetallic weapons and the first occurrence of a labyrinth.

The increase of petroglyphs with weapons in the Deza area, turns this part of the Galician inland into a core of rock art with its own entity. The discovery of these new stations, together with the finds recorded in other points of our community in the last years, makes necessary a reflection on the distribution and chronology of this type of motives in the Northwest, and underlines the limited knowledge that we have presently about this artistic phenomenon.

Although there are many archaeological and ethnographic evidences for the use of slate and similar rocks for flaking purpose, they raised little interest among specialists, leading to a general ignorance of specific problems associated with these raw materials. Starting from the study of several Neolithic and Chalcolithic slate collections of the Western Iberia, the mechanical properties of slate and its impact on knapping process has been defined; subsequently, manufacturing and use of slate and phyllite projectiles have been undertaken. The results show that the ease with which these materials break into sheets of uniform thickness and morphology would provide an ideal basis for a fast and easy manufacture of arrowheads. In addition, these projectiles have shown a penetration capability and resistance statistically equivalent to those made on more standard materials (i.e. chalcedony or rock crystal). Therefore, slate and other rocks with a high degree of fissility would have been very attractive to prehistoric knappers endeavouring to make arrowheads.

"Neste articulo preséntase o petróglifo de Río de Angueira II (Teo, A Coruña) cuxo trazo máis destacable é a notable presenza de escenas de monta, unha delas sobre un cervo. A descrición e análise desta estación serve de base para reflexionar sobre a significación e o simbolismo da monta do cervo así como sobre a cronoloxía destas escenas presentes na arte rupestre galega en base á adopción da propia práctica da equitación.

This paper deals with the petroglyph of Rio de Angueira II (Teo, A Coruña), whose most remarkable feature is the notable presence of riding scenes, one of them on a deer. The description and analysis of this site serves us as the basis for a reflection on the meaning and symbolism of deer riding and also to draw up some considerations about the chronology of riding scenes present in the Galician rock art based on the adoption of the practice of horseback riding itself."

"La prospección sistemática de arte rupestre en el Ayuntamiento de Porto do Son (A Coruña) ha permitido la localización de casi dos centenares de grabados, dos de ellos en abrigos graníticos. A estos últimos se suman otros dos casos en las comarcas occidentales de Galicia. La temática presente es idéntica a la del arte galaico al aire libre, datado grosso modo en el III milenio a.C. Estos hallazgos plantean, por otra parte, la intencionada restricción física sobre la visualización de este fenómeno. La convivencia de motivos en el interior de cavidades con otros situados al aire libre e incluso en frisos verti- cales fácilmente perceptibles demuestra la variabilidad de estas manifestaciones y nos permite reflexionar sobre la audiencia a la que habrían estado destinadas las diferen- tes estaciones rupestres.

The systematic survey of rock art in the area of the town council of Porto do Son (A Coruña) has allowed us to find nearly two hundred carved surfaces, two of them located within rock shelters. Two other examples in the Western regions of Galicia must be added to those. The motifs inside the rock shelters are exactly the same as those found in the open-air petroglyphs, which can be roughly dated to the third millennium BC. These finds attest to the existence of an intentional constraint on the visibility of these graphic manifestations. The coexistence of motifs inside cavities and others located outdoors, even on fairly conspicuous vertical friezes, shows the variability of this phenomenon and allows us to reflect on the different audiences at which the rock sites would have been aimed."

A lo largo de la Prehistoria Reciente del Noroeste la industria lítica se localiza –con unos rasgos e intensidad características–  en yacimientos tanto de tipo funerario como doméstico y doméstico-ritual. En las sepulturas  se observa una cierta simplificación del ajuar lítico complementada con una mayor selección de las materias primas, primando aquellas de gran calidad, casi siempre foráneas. Por su parte, en los yacimientos de ámbito doméstico se observa una captación de los recursos abióticos, centrada en la explotación de las materias primas locales, así como una menor variabilidad tipológica de los conjuntos, unido a una simplificación técnica muy marcada. A finales del III Milenio, y ya a lo largo del II, la industria lítica experimentará una notable pérdida de significación en el registro material tanto de contextos domésticos como funerarios

A vertente Norte da península do Barbanza era até hai duas décadas unha área na que os petróglifos eran practicamente descoñecidos, pero os traballos levados a cabo por afeccionados e arqueólogos permitiron a descoberta dun gran número de estacións rupestres que sobrancean, asemade, pola variedade das suas representacións.

O presente volume fai unha achega interdisciplinar a estas rechamantes manifestacións gráficas