ABSTRACT
Prehistoric rock art has long fascinated scholars by its spectacular visual display and the opacity of its intrinsic meaning. Research on Iberian rock art has hitherto been heavily dominated by study of the formal characteristics of the depictions (whether paintings or carvings), by discussions over chronology and terminology, and by an exhaustive effort to build rigid typological frameworks. Although the accurate recording of rock art and the documentation of its formal traits are crucial for the understanding of individual sites, interpretation must go well beyond such issues. Rock-art recording needs to be seen as the foundation of a complex construction, built on layered platforms of interpretation and framed by a diversity of theoretical pillars. Such a procedure will induce a more idiosyncratic approach to the essential constituents of the phenomenon – iconography, style and techniques – and their relationship with the natural backdrop.
