coldrum posts a link to another article on the possibility of dating the painted rock art:
An international research team has characterised black pigments used in the Remígia shelters of the Valltorta-Gassulla area of eastern Spain. The objective of this study was to discover the raw materials and preparation techniques, as well as to identify the cultural patterns associated with these pigments.
The art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin represents a unique graphic expression within the recent European prehistoric framework and contains a wealth of information about the societies that created it. Discovered in the early twentieth century, it was collectively declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 and its most distinctive features are:
However, the chronology of this art (dating and authorship) has not yet been settled and is therefore still open to debate, but being able to identify the base materials of the pigments, suggests the possibility of applying the technique of carbon-14 dating, to particular elements.
In the majority of the representations a red pigment obtained from iron oxide dominates, although other colours like black and white have occasionally been used. A recently published paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science, closely examines the black markings.
Clodoaldo Roldán explains, “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 in the Levantine paintings at Valltorta-Gassulla”.
For the study of the elemental composition of the black pigments two types of analyses were used:
energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), a non-destructive analysis made on site in order to preserve the integrity of the paintings
electron microscopy, a laboratory analysis of microsamples from a limited set of black figures
These techniques were applied to 34 points of black pigment and 18 points of a non-black-pigmented surface. The points analysed are part of a total of 25 pictorial motifs among which there are 15 human figures, 6 animals, 1 animal track and 3 undefined motifs.
It is interesting to note that some of the black motifs described have undergone transformation processes such as total or partial repainting in red. Such processes have not only modified the original shape of the figures, but the addition of new graphic elements also leads to new interpretations of the narrative.
For more, see: http://www.pasthorizonspr.com
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road