Hundreds of prehistoric engravings in the Prades mountains

An investigation uncovers hundreds of prehistoric engravings in an archaeological site in the Prades mountains.

The cleaning and documentation work being carried out by the team led by Josep Maria Vergès and Míriam Salas, both from the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) in Tarragona and the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), one of the institutions NEAR the Generalitat of Catalonia, have uncovered more than 250 post-paleolithic engravings in the place known as Roca de les Ferradures, in the old town of Els Cogullons, located in the municipality of Montblanc, Tarragona, Catalonia. The archaeological site is located in one of the areas with the highest concentration of rock shelters (natural stone shelters) with groups of rock art from the Prades mountains. The complex is located in the open air, on a sandy rock surface of hundreds of meters, which makes this site, both for its extension and for its number and variety of representations, one of the most important in Catalonia in terms of engravings. postpaleolithic cave paintings.

A much larger deposit than previously thought

This set of engravings was discovered at the end of the 1970s by Ramon Capdevila, an archeology enthusiast and former collaborator of Salvador Vilaseca, but, apart from the publication of some photographs and comments, it had never been the object of study, nor was it I had given it a lot of importance. The work has made it possible to discover many more engravings than previously known, some of them in an extraordinary state of conservation, and to show that they are not concentrated alone in the place known as Roca de les Ferradures, but rather spread over a land extension of hundreds of meters.

possible sacred space

The engravings are placed on the ground, made using the pecking technique, on the surface of an extensive rock formation of red stoneware. In some cases, once the pecking process was finished, the inside of the groove was polished to eliminate the marks of the blows and make it more regular.

Among the engravings located there is a great variety of shapes and motifs, some of them forming scenes. The most represented are the so-called horseshoes, which give the site its name, and the crosses, which are actually thought to be very simplified anthropomorphic representations. But the most singular representations are those of anthropomorphic individuals with cross arms and large open hands, very disproportionate in relation to the body, who stand out as dominant characters among the rest, both for their dimensions (some are more than half a meter tall) , as for the details of the figures.

The hypothesis about the chronology of the engravings is that the first ones could have been made at the end of the Chalcolithic and the beginning of the Bronze Age, a little over 4000 years ago, but that they were also made during the Iron Age and, possibly, in later moments. This implies that, if as is thought, these engravings are related to some kind of cult or ceremony, this would have been maintained for more than a thousand years.

In fact, the excavation carried out in the Cova del Minaire and the reanalysis of the materials found by Salvador Vilaseca in the Cova de les Gralles, both located next to Els Cogullons, have allowed us to document evidence of intense settlement in this place between 4,300 and 4,000 years ago. years, during the Chalcolithic, as well as the human presence during the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Roman Age.

One of the engravings. (Photo: IPHES / URV)

3D documentation for research, dissemination and conservation

The engravings have been documented by means of a 3D scanner and photogrammetry, in order to obtain high-resolution 3D models, both at the mesh and texture level. These will allow a detailed analysis and dissemination at a virtual level, constituting at the same time an efficient way of guaranteeing their preservation.

The works have been financed by the Montblanc City Council, by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia, within the framework of the four-year research project “Paleoenvironmental evolution and prehistoric settlement in the basins of the Francolí, Gaià, Siurana and Rieras del Camp de Tarragona”, and they have the support of the Prades Mountains Rock Art Interpretation Center, the Conca de Barberà County Council, and the collaboration of M. Glòria and Joan Sabaté Masdeu, owners of the land where the find the deposit. (Source: IPHES / URV)