Lecture series “The Power of the Past. 150 years of Archaeology in Spain”.

On the presentation of the book ‘Prehistoric art as Prehistoric culture. Studies in honour of Professor Rodrigo de Balbín-Berhmann’. Rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann’s contributions to the interpretation of Palaeolithic Art are the starting point for presenting the state of the art of research, based on the latest works of Portuguese, Spanish, German and English colleagues, and for disseminating them in the English-speaking world.
The authors of the 17 papers that comprise it are part of the most important European research teams. The presence of some of the authors at this round table will allow us to approach some of the current problems regarding the interpretation of Palaeolithic art. In particular, their sequence, extension, topography and, of course, the role of archaeometry in the evaluation of ancient chronologies, which allow us to consider the relationship between these symbolic productions and Neanderthal groups.

Since their discovery more than 160 years ago, Neanderthals have gone from being seen as the losers of the human family tree to being considered first-rate hominids. In her essay “Neanderthals”, Rebecca Wragg Sykes uses cutting-edge research on the Palaeolithic to debunk clichés about our “distant cousins” and reveals Neanderthals as curious and intelligent humans, knowledgeable about their world, technologically creative and adaptable, who managed to survive for over 300,000 years through periods of colossal climatic upheaval.
This book is an open window for discussion and debate, aimed at both laymen and scientists who are tackling a task that is becoming ever more difficult, with surprising new discoveries that require detours and even 180° turns. Exciting research is becoming increasingly topical.

In 2017, the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha published the Catalogue of Cave Art in the Sierra de las Cuerdas on the occasion of the centenary of the discovery of the Villar del Humo shelters. This is one of the most unique sets of Levantine art declared World Heritage. On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the declaration of the Cave Art of the Mediterranean Arc of the Iberian Peninsula in 1998, the dissemination of this volume is proposed, which is designed to bring all citizens closer to the knowledge and understanding of these assets in their cultural and natural context.

In the Ekain cave (Deba, Gipuzkoa), a small group of parietal art representations have been found, executed by engraving on clay. The similarities between these and the well-known paintings of horses point to the same chronology: Upper Magdalenian, approximately 15,000 years ago. This type of figurative engravings traced with the finger is not very common, but they appear in the Iberian Peninsula and the south of France throughout the Upper Palaeolithic. In this talk we present the new findings and the implications of the use of this technique in the framework of Palaeolithic Art research.

In the scientific-academic field, why prehistoric art is important to study prehistoric art and what issues can be relevant and incident in our society (for example, because it helps us to understand what symbols are and how we use them; because it is a way of tracing areas such as inter- and multiculturalism, and even globalisation, as well as the links between these and the feelings generated in the field of culture and their implications in territoriality; because it helps us understand elements linked to communication and the durability of information; etc.).

In its social projection, how prehistoric art is made to participate, through talks, exhibitions, etc., in our society and how it does or does not affect the citizens. The impact on tourism, in rural areas, etc.

And finally, the role of Palaeolithic art in Cultural Heritage and how it (and Spanish, or even peninsular) is representative of understanding Spain as a potential in cave heritage. Can it be an element of Marca España or whatever you want to call it or say?

Lecture by Dr. Mary Beard (University of Cambridge), presented by Prof. Carmen Fernández Ochoa (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) and Dr. Javier Salido Domínguez (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), first in the series “Dialogues with the Classical World”.