INCORPORATION IN ROCK ART - SHAPE AND VOLUME:

Drinking reindeer, Les Combarelles,

France, www.donsmaps.com,

Public domain.

There is a phrase you often see in rock art papers nowadays - "incorporation." Basically, it refers to using a natural feature of the rock face as part of a composition. The most engaging example I know of is one I posted a column about on September 8, 2018, "The Drinking Reindeer of Les Combarelles."

      Drinking reindeer, Les Combarelles,

      France. Drawing, Peter Faris, 2019.

In this panel a reindeer engraved onto the cave wall has his head down and his tongue out lapping water from a small seep that originally exited the cliff face at that point. The composition includes both the created reindeer and the incorporated natural water seep.

Spotted horses, Pech-Merle, France.

Internet image, Public domain.

Another famous example is the spotted horse from Pech-Merle cave, France, where a rock projection the shape of a horse's head seemingly suggested that the large horse be painted in that position. In his book "Painted Caves" Andrew Lawson describes it as "overlapping figures of two horses filled and surrounded by spots and negative hand stencils. Note the diminutive head of the horse on the right, but the shape of the rock which might suggest a head with better proportions. This figure, 1.6m long, has provided an age estimate of 26,640±390 (uncal bp). Fine red paintings of a fish, indented circles, and bent thumbs also appear on the frieze." (Lawson 2012:133)

Lawson apparently sees the black portion of the horse on the right above and to the right of the front legs as the horses neck tapering up to a diminutive black head. I prefer to look at that as the black mane and forelock on top of the horses head which is represented by the painted rock projection (shaped like a horse head). I think this is also true of the horse on the left with a black mane and forelock over a somewhat indeterminate neck and head. Whether Lawson is correct, or my version is correct, it is the shape and volume of the wall projection that inspired the painting of the horse in the first place.

Polychrome bison ceiling, Altamira,

Spain. Internet image, Public domain.

Another commonly cited example of incorporation involves the great Polychrome Bison ceiling at Altamira cave. "the natural protuberances on the ceiling were employed for perspective and volume. Cracks were also used to represent outlines." (Bradshaw Foundation) Bumps on the stone ceiling of this gallery in Altamira were painted as bison, giving the animals roundness and three dimensions. "These conventions were used to best effect where they also utilized the natural contours and fissures of the ceiling. Thus, bosses were exploited to give volume to the bodies of the animals, while cracks and eminences were used to emphasize various anatomical features." (Lawson 2012:257) This represents incorporation of the surface relief of the rock face into the rock art - shape and volume again.

Bison, Portel, France, Thinking

with the Animals in Upper Palaeolithic

Rock Art, Georges Sauvet et al,

2009, p. 9.

A less known example that includes both the shape (as in Pech Merle) and a rock projection (as in Altamira), is found in Le Portel cave, France, where a bison is located on a rock projection the topside of which is defined by a crack that suggested the outline of his back. The shape of the rock projection suggested the body of the bison and its volume provides relief.

These three examples are relatively straightforward and easily defined. There are, however, many cases of rock art recording where incorporation is reported, but not so definitely proven. Advocates of the "S"-word (shamanism) often state that the rock face is a membrane between this world and the spirit world. In some cases, an anthropomorph or zoomorph on a rock face next to a crack in the rock is defined and explained as a figure that has just left the inside of the rock through the crack, however, unless the painting or pecking actually rounds the corner and continues inside of the crack there is actually no way to prove that the image and the crack are connected at all.

A recent example I saw in a paper published about Scandinavian rock art showed a number of images from a highly fractured cliff face. One image that was near a crack was touted by the authors as a highly significant example of  "incorporation" - the position of the crack was assumed to be included in the composition. Many other images with cracks were, however, ignored with no comment. Indeed, a couple of examples had cracks right through the image which were also not mentioned. This inconsistency cancels their credibility when designating the one example as "incorporation".

I am, by no means, denying that incorporation occurs in rock art, I cited a number of examples above. I do maintain, however, that it is reported much too loosely, without actual proof. The presence of a rock irregularity on the surface within a rock art composition, or a crack in the rock a panel is painted on, does not mean that it was ever intended to be an actual feature of the rock art. The examples I gave above are unmistakable - many others are not.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Bradshaw Foundation

http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/spain/altamire/cave_art/index.php

Lawson, Andrew J.

2012 Painted Caves: Palaeolithic Rock Art in Western Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK

Sauvet, Georges, Robert Layton, Tilman Lenssen-Erz,

Paul Tacon & Andre Wlodarczyk,

2009 Thinking with Animals in Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 19:3