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Tesselations
are applied in an attempt to study prehistoric cave art sites
at varying levels of investigation. The lowest of these levels
is represented by the distribution of the individual graphic
units within a panel, a following is devoted to the spatial
order of the pictures in the entire cave, and an investigation
level of an even higher order deals with the spatial relations
between contemporaneous rock art caves and campsites in the
landscape.
In our example, we deal with the pictures from the roof of
the great hall in Rouffignac (France). Triangulation and tessellation
help render the seemingly unstructured arrangement of pictures
in a way that makes them easier to understand. Also, the description
of formal aspects, e.g. the spatial relationship between the
pictures of one animal species and a grouping of different
species within the panel, is made easier. This also applies
to the collection of data for elaboration in further statistical
analyses. If the techniques described here are used, it may
be possible that the analysis of similar compositions of cave
art pictures (e.g. from Altamira) will result in a better
understanding of this kind of Palaeolithic art.
Key words: Triangulation, Tesselations, Palaeolithic, Cave
Art
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