Researchers from the University of Valencia and the TRACES UMR 5680 laboratory of France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), presented the first characterisation of the black pigments used in the shelters of the Remígia cave, in the Valltorta-Gassulla area, between the Valencian regions of L'Alt Maestrat and La Plana (Castelló). The objective of this study was to identify the raw material of the black pigments and the techniques used to prepare them, and to make an approach to the cultural patterns associated with the use of pigments.
The rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin, also known as Levantine art, is a unique graphic expression and contains a wealth of information about the societies that painted it. Discovered in the early twentieth century, its most distinctive features are that it is located in open-air rock shelters, that human figures have a dominant role in scenes portraying economic and social activities, and that red pigments largely prevail. The authorship and dating of this form of art found in the Iberian Mediterranean basin is still open to debate.
Most representations in Levantine art use a red pigment obtained from iron oxide, although other colours like black and white have occasionally been used.
In Valltorta-Gassulla, one of the most important areas in terms of the quantity and quality of painted shelters, very few representations in black were known so far. In this paper, researchers present a new set of figures in black, the identification of which had gone unnoticed in previous investigations. Clodoaldo Roldán (University of Valencia, Institute of Materials Science) explains that "up to now, these pigments were associated with the use of mineral components such as manganese oxides, but this study has made it possible, for the first time, to identify the use of carbonised plant material to produce the black pigments used in the Levantine paintings at Valltorta-Gassulla." Probably, these carbon-based black pigments are the most widely used in the history of humanity, because they can be used directly, without preparation, such as those from charcoal (vegetable carbon) or graphite (mineral carbon).
In the paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, these researchers present the new technical discoveries regarding the way to prepare and use black pigments in Levantine paintings. The fact of identifying black carbon-based pigments suggests the possibility of using carbon-14 dating, which represents an important step to solve the chronological controversy hanging over these prehistoric paintings ever since they were discovered.
This research is part of the PROMETEO and PROMETEO II projects, funded by the Valencian government and led by Valentín Villaverde, and is financed with European funds under the Marie Curie Actions programme within the 7th Framework Programme of the European Research Council. The Cultural Heritage Service of the Valencian Department of Education, Culture and Sport has facilitated the investigations that have led to these remarkable discoveries.
Thanks to coldrum for the link. For more, see: Asociación RUVID. "The cave paintings of Valltorta-Gassulla could be dated in absolute terms thanks to new analyses." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 November 2014..
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