An integrated approach for the study of the Casa la Peña schematic rock-art (Castrocontrigo, León) Una aproximación integrada para el estudio del arte rupestre esquemático de la Casa la Peña (Castrocontrigo, León) Javier Fernández-Lozano1, Pablo Higueras 2, José María Esbrí 3, Rosa María Carrasco4, Javier Pedraza5 and Jesús Celis Sánchez6 Abstract The province of León represents a geographic boundary of great interest for the analysis of cultural and social relations between the Mediterranean and Atlantic populations during the Neolithic-Bronze Age, the most important expression of which is rock art. This study presents an integrated geoarchaeological approach based on the multi-element geochemical and geological analysis of a new group of motifs located in the heart of the Leonese Massif, in which the pictorial remains were identified using image processing techniques and characterized using atomic absorption spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy (portable and laboratory). Image processing allows us to define the areas of analysis, while the analytical techniques aimed to the identification of pigments, ruling out the presence of cinnabar and confirming the main element as Fe and the main compound as hematite (Fe2O3). Geological and structural mapping techniques allow us to determine the origin of the pigments, which most probably came from the Fe oxide present in the Armorican Quartzite. This study shows that the multi-technical approaches usually employed to characterize this type of archaeological material often fails to extract the full meaning of the data by not resorting to basic, cost-effective techniques that are less glamorous. A combined approach based on geochemical and geological analysis can provide significant information for an accurate reconstruction in ancient archaeological scenarios where time has hidden the turn of history. Key Words: Schematic rock-art paintings, Geochemistry, Micro-raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, Mineral pigments. Resumen La provincia de León representa un límite geográfico de gran interés para el análisis de las relaciones culturales y sociales entre las poblaciones mediterráneas y atlánticas durante el Neolítico-Edad del Área de Prospección e Investigación Minera. Escuela Superior y Técnica de Ingenieros de Minas. Universidad de León. jferl@unileon.es 2 Departamento de Ingeniería Geológica y Minera, Escuela Universitaria Politécnica de Almadén, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Instituto de Geología Aplicada (IGeA), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. pablo.higueras@uclm.es 3 Departamento de Ingeniería Geológica y Minera, Escuela Universitaria Politécnica de Almadén, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Instituto de Geología Aplicada (IGeA), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. josemaria.esbri@uclm.es 4 Instituto de Geología Aplicada (IGeA), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. Departamento de Ingeniería Geológica y Minera. Facultad de Ciencias Ambientales y Bioquímica. Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. rosa.carrasco@uclm.es 5 Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. javierp@ucm.es 6 Diputación de León. Instituto Leonés de Cultura. jesus.celis@dipuleon.es 1
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