Introduction to Raman microscopy of prehistoric rock paintings from the Sierra de las Cuerdas, Cuenca, Spain
Selected pictographs from the prehistoric painting panel 2 of Cueva del Tío Modesto shelter in the Sierra de las Cuerdas (Henarejos, Cuenca, Spain) were studied by Raman microscopy in order to determine the chemical composition of the pigments used. Hematite (α‐Fe2O3) was found as the main component...
Saved in:
Published in | Journal of Raman spectroscopy Vol. 37; no. 10; pp. 1054 - 1062 |
---|---|
Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Chichester, UK
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
01.10.2006
|
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | Selected pictographs from the prehistoric painting panel 2 of Cueva del Tío Modesto shelter in the Sierra de las Cuerdas (Henarejos, Cuenca, Spain) were studied by Raman microscopy in order to determine the chemical composition of the pigments used. Hematite (α‐Fe2O3) was found as the main component. The hematite particle size of one motif is much smaller than that observed for the others. No binders were found. A blue‐greyish crust extends over the whole panel. Whewellite, weddellite and amorphous carbon were identified in this crust. The Triassic sandstone on which the paintings are made is found to suffer from a flaking process. Therefore, flakes of the rocky substratum were studied, and α‐quartz, whewellite, magnetite and gypsum were found. A micro‐stratigraphic study of the flakes revealed channels of gypsum from one side of the flake to the other. This result supports the mechanism proposed for this sandstone weathering process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
---|---|
Bibliography: | Vicerrectorado de Investigación of UNED ArticleID:JRS1588 istex:A2D6E2E21D727728B94557C5BCE819C0FF6B8620 ark:/67375/WNG-WQNDDT80-Z European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0377-0486 1097-4555 |
DOI: | 10.1002/jrs.1588 |