The Diachronic Construction of Paleolithic Cave Art: Striated Hind Heads of the Cantabrian Region

Cave art is a cultural phenomenon that encompasses more than 40,000 years of continuous activity in the Paleolithic caves of southwestern Europe. However, research has not fully addressed the mechanisms by which such continuity was achieved and sustained for thousands of years. In order to explore these issues, it is necessary to understand how new images interacted with old ones. Accordingly, in this paper, we analyze the spatial relationship of striated hind heads—a formally and chronologically well-defined iconographic element of Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian—with previously executed rock art manifestations. This analysis shows a consistent pattern of integration of striated hind heads within pre-Magdalenian ensembles and compositions. Furthermore, the data suggests the existence of certain codes that determined the way in which they could be introduced within previously decorated caves. Ultimately, this allows us to propose that during the Lower Magdalenian striated hind heads acted as an iconographic symbol granted with a specific cultural meaning and that their production might have been aimed at creating a symbolic bond with older imageries, hence participating in their continuation and renewal. This view inaugurates a new line of research aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which iconographic continuities were sustained in Paleolithic cave art.