PRINTS ON THE ROCKS: A STUDY OF THE TRACK REPRESENTATIONS FROM PIEDRA MUSEO LOCALITY (SOUTHERN PATAGONIA)

CARDEN NATALIA

Rock Art Research

Archaeological Publications

Lugar: Melbourne; Año: 2009 vol. 26 p. 29 - 43

0813-0426

This article analyses a sample of petroglyphs from the Central Patagonian Plateau which are morphologically similar to animal and human prints and can be related to the middle/late Holocene. The study is undertaken through a methodology which involves the identification, recognition and interpretation of the images, which in turn are based upon their formal comparison with objective referents (natural imprints). The goal of the analysis is not only to recognise possible species represented in rock art but also to evaluate the degree of naturalism versus non-naturalism that the different images display and, thus, to explore the animal symbolism among the hunter-gatherer groups that produced them.