Quantifying Art. The use of basic quantitative data in the analysis of rock art repertoires and visual compositions

DÁNAE FIORE; AGUSTÍN ACEVEDO; NORA V. FRANCO; MARIANA OCAMPO

La Paz

Congreso; Congreso Internacional "Arqueología y Arte Rupestre - 25 años SIARB"; 2012

SIARB, IFRAO, FCBC, MUSEF, PIEB

This presentation focuses on the use of basic quantitative data in the characterisation of two core lines of rock art evidence: motifs repertoires and their combinations to produce visual compositions in a given bedrock space. To this end, we present a data-collecting and data-processing protocol which allows for the quantification [N and %] of 15 spatial, technical, repertoire and composition variables that allow to search, find and discuss potential trends in: a) the number, variety and combination of motif types; b) their relations to the types of bedrock topography (TBR: caves, rockshelters, walls, boulders); and c) their relations to the number of topographic units (TU), their spatial extension and distribution within a site or locality. Such trends allow to assess the accumulated intensity of rock art production -which stems from linking motif types frequencies, repertoire variability and TU features- and provides information about underlying construction patterns of specific spaces through their visual marking. The protocol has been applied to several localities of the Northern Shore of Santa Cruz River (Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina) and we present examples of its results.