This summer, Viviane Bolin travelled to Spain to attend a conference and to excavate in the frame of CRC 806 project C1. In September 2015, leading specialists in prehistoric rock and mobile art discussed this year’s topic ‘Symbols in the Landscape: Rock Art and its Context’ at the XIX International Rock Art Conference IFRAO in Cáceres/Extremadura. The variety of talks covered themes like footprints at art sites, reflections on function of art, art as a political instrument, new art site discoveries in Central Europe etc.

Afterwards, the PhD student continued to Andalusia to join the international team from University of Cologne and University of Cádiz. The plan for this 4-year campaign is the excavation of the two palaeolithic sites Sima de Las Palomas and Ardales Cave. The objective in Sima de Las Palomas is to reach Upper and Middle Palaeolithic occupation layers. With detailed documentation and new datings, we hope to contribute to the recent debate on the transition between both time periods in South Spain. In Ardales Cave, the objective is to document the very well preserved cave site stratigraphy and hopefully find a connection between archaeological layers and cave art.

Excavation at Sima de Las Palomas. Photo: Viviane Bolin

Excavation at Ardales Cave. Photo: Viviane Bolin