Since the 1980s, research into aggregation sites has focused on the material dimension of the archaeological record and has thus led to an incomplete view of the prehistoric reality. Early communities chose sites for many reasons. In this article, we explore the possibility that something as immaterial in nature as the acoustics of the sites may have influenced the selective choices made by the prehistoric peoples who created and used rock art in these meeting places. Employing the Impulse Response (IR) methodology, we systematically analyze the acoustic properties of Cuevas de la Araña, an aggregation site in eastern Spain with Levantine rock art, and 16 satellite sites in its surroundings. The results indicate that the acoustics of La Araña could have been important for creating affective engagement through musical performances carried out during the production and use of rock art, as well as for the choice of the site as a meeting place for Levantine populations.

Summary: We argue here that it is possible to study dance in prehistoric societies by analysing how it was depicted in rock art. For this research to be effective, subjectivity must be minimised by analysing the images systematically. We adapt a series of criteria first established in Garfinkel’s ‘archaeology of dance’ and apply them to our case study of dance representations in Spanish Levantine rock art. We conclude that only twelve scenes fit the typical parameters of dance representations. By studying this set of images, we are able to identify dances with a single individual, couples and groups. We suggest that dances took place in more than one context and followed specific cultural patterns, among which we highlight gender identity.

The acoustics of the Lower Chuya River area rock art landscape are analyzed through both the exploration of its acoustic properties and the ethnographic information gathered about the region. The results obtained in the acoustics tests undertaken in the area, in particular at the rock art sites of Kalbak-Tash I, Kalbak-Tash II, and Adyr-Kan, are examined. They indicate that the perceived loudness resulting from a natural amplification of sound (strength parameter) and music and speech clarity may have been some of the reasons behind the selection of these locations for rock art production. The ethnographic sources related to the Altai and other Siberian areas are then reviewed as a way of providing an ontological framework for the study of Altaian sonic concepts and behaviors in nature. As the sources indicate, at least for the historical period and presumably earlier, in the prehistoric period, all existing beings are entangled by sound, and they mimic each other in endless ways. We argue that these sites were selected in a non-linear relational ontological framework. It is suggested that the multidisciplinary perspective combining archaeology, physical acoustics, and ethnography has considerable potential for providing a new, richer understanding of rock art landscapes.

In the last few years, archaeoacoustic studies of rock art sites and landscapes have undergone significant growth as a result of renewed interest in the intangible aspects of the archaeological record. This article focuses on the acoustic study carried out in the rock art complex of Bacinete, Cádiz (Spain). After describing the archaeological site and its importance, a representative set of monaural and spatial IRs gathered onsite is thoroughly analysed to explore the hypothesis that the sonic component of the site played an important role in how prehistoric people interacted with it. Additionally, we briefly discuss the challenges of analysing the acoustics of open-air spaces following the recommendations of the ISO 3382-1 guidelines, a standard developed not for open-air spaces, but for room acoustics. The results obtained confirm the favourable acoustic conditions of the Bacinete main shelter for speech transmission. The different subjective acoustic impressions obtained in a somewhat similar shelter located nearby, Bacinete III, are also explained, alluding to a lesser degree of intimacy felt in the latter.

Over more than a century, several proposals have been made on the composition and technical features of the pictorial recipes used by Levantine prehistoric painters. In this paper all these proposals are surveyed and tested through systematic experiments to determine the technical affordance of pigments and binders in different pictorial recipes. Experimental results were then used as independent analytical parameters employed as diagnostic criteria to systematically study an archaeological sample of nine sites located in the Maestrazgo region (Spain) and their surroundings. Results reveal that out of 112 experimental recipes, only 16 afforded the production of paintings technically similar to Levantine rock art.

El análisis de la distribución espacial de los abrigos con arte rupestre y su relación con la creación de paisajes sociales por parte de sociedades prehistóricas se ha planteado desde diferentes perspectivas desde los años ochenta del siglo XX. Estas aproximaciones se han centrado en averiguar de qué modo estos conjuntos artísticos ofrecen claves sobre cómo se vertebraron los paisajes. Desde hace dos décadas, estas aproximaciones se han realizado a través de herramientas derivadas de los Sistemas de Información geográfica (SIG), particularmente para analizar y modelizar los patrones de visibilidad. Sin embargo, las diferentes modelizaciones han llevado a resultados, en ocasiones, contradictorios. Como medio para ahondar en estas y otras cuestiones, en este trabajo nos centraremos en el arte rupestre macroesquemático (ARM) a través de diferentes escalas de análisis. La primera analiza, desde un punto de vista iconográfico, los diferentes motivos. La segunda escala presta atención a la distribución espacial de estos motivos, así como su concentración en determinados sitios. Por último, la tercera escala modeliza la percepción visual y sonora a través del empleo de diferentes herramientas SIG. En este punto se realiza una evaluación crítica, tanto de las bases cartográficas como de los procedimientos empleados en la modelización de los paisajes visuales y sonoros. La concatenación de estas unidades de análisis permite aproximarnos a la articulación social del paisaje neolítico a partir de un fenómeno artístico tan concreto y particular como es el ARM.