C A N T A B R I A   U N I V E R S I T Y
 
 
   
 
  POST-PALEOLITHIC ART   El Cubular shelter
Collado de Sejos
Peña Lostroso
 
El Cubular shelter.  
    Figuras Esquemáticas   El Cubular shelter is located about 800 meters North of Ruanales, in Valderredible. It is a narrow shelter open to the SE in the sandstones, that in a strongly eroded monoclinal series, form the landscape. It is 20 to 25 meters long and in its central area it is 6 meters deep and 4 meters high. It is in its central area where the schematic art evidences are concentrated.

In the place, pictoric techniques have been only documented, although, a big fallen block with multitude of deep and straight engraved traces, that are difficult to define, is located in the shelter Southern end.

All the figures are distributed through 6 panels, because of the multitude of flakings in its surface, are suddenly interrupted in its formal development. The documented techniques of execution are basically two: red figures in thick traces or in flat tint and black figures in carbonic thin trace. To these ones, we have to add other red thin traces applied directly with coloring fragments and not with paint.

The figures subject include geometrics in strict sense, anthropomorphic and zoomorphics. The first ones develop shapes in spike, grate,circles, straight lines, etc. The most complex ones are of drawing in thick red trace, and the anthromorphic of big head in flat paint. The last ones tips are drawn in a downward arch and, sometimes, the sex is marked with a straight trace. The zoomorphics are, basically, quadrupeds and those that are executed with direct colouring in red thin trace, appear as riders mounts in a size disproportion that makes you think more of the infantile than of the schematic painting. Perhaps this fact makes it uncertain the chronological attribution to the prehistory.

Like in other groups of post-paleolithic schematic art, the elements that can be useful as a clue to determine chronologies are very scarce. So far, we only count with lines of stylistic comparison and they have to be applied in a very simple formal group. Basically, two moments of execution can be identify. Indeed, the black painting in carbonic fine trace appears in some places over the red one in thick trace. The last one´s style is comparable to many groups of schematic paintings in the North of the peninsula, which use to be included in the Bronze Age. With no more resources, we should not forget the spacial identification of this place, and other close shelters with paintings, maintain with staitions of schematic engravings of Hijedo Mountain in which weapons outlines, that could be identified as metal daggers from the first stage of the Bronze Age, appear.

     
   
   
 
   
   
                               
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