Browsing by Author "Aubert, M"

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    The effects of climate change on the Pleistocene rock art of Sulawesi
    (Springer Nature, 2021-05-13) Huntley, J; Aubert, M; Oktaviana, AA; Lebe, R; Hakim, B; Burhan, B; Muhammed Aksa, L; Made Geria, I; Ramli, M; Siagian, L; Brand, HEA; Brumm, A
    The equatorial tropics house some of the earliest rock art yet known, and it is weathering at an alarming rate. Here we present evidence for haloclasty (salt crystallisation) from Pleistocene-aged rock art panels at 11 sites in the Maros-Pangkep limestone karsts of southern Sulawesi. We show how quickly rock art panels have degraded in recent decades, contending that climate-catalysed salt efflorescence is responsible for increasing exfoliation of the limestone cave surfaces that house the ~ 45 to 20-thousand-year-old paintings. These artworks are located in the world’s most atmospherically dynamic region, the Australasian monsoon domain. The rising frequency and severity of El Niño-induced droughts from anthropogenic climate change (that is, higher ambient temperatures and more consecutive dry days), combined with seasonal moisture injected via monsoonal rains retained as standing water in the rice fields and aquaculture ponds of the region, increasingly provide ideal conditions for evaporation and haloclasty, accelerating rock art deterioration. © 2021 The Authors. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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    The first Australian Synchrotron powder diffraction analysis of pigment from a Wandjina motif in the Kimberley, Western Australia
    (Taylor & Francis, 2016-03-17) Huntley, J; Brand, HEA; Aubert, M; Morwood, M
    We report the identification of minerals in stratified paint layers from a Wandjina motif in the central Kimberley region, Western Australia, via synchrotron powder diffraction. Interpreting our findings with reference to previous pigment characterisations of Wandjina motifs, we outline the potential of this method for rock art investigations. We particularly highlight the implications of successful major and minor phase identification in very small (~3 µg) pigment samples. The results of this pilot study show that crystallographic data is critical in helping to separate environmental/cultural signatures from post-depositional processes within anthropogenically applied pigments. In Wandjina rock art, crystallography facilitates the examination of the cultural context of rock art production within an assemblage ethnographically known to have undergone regular, ritual repainting. © 2021 Informa UK Limited
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    One colour, (at least) two minerals: a study of mulberry rock art pigment and a mulberry pigment ‘quarry’ from the Kimberley, northern Australia
    (John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2013-01-12) Huntley, J; Aubert, M; Ross, J; Brand, HEA; Morwood, MJ
    Distinctive mulberry paintings found in northern Australia, particularly those of the Kimberley region, have been argued to represent some of the oldest surviving rock art on the continent. Significant research efforts continue to focus on resolving the age of these motifs, but comparatively little attention has been given to understanding their physical composition and potential source(s). In a pilot investigation, we conclude that (at least) two mineralogically distinct mulberry pigments occur in Gwion motifs and demonstrate that their major components can be indicatively chemically differentiated, non-invasively. Characterization of a 'quarried' mulberry ochre source demonstrates that these pigments occur locally as natural minerals. Copyright © 2015 University of Oxford.
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    Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo
    (Springer Nature, 2018-11-11) Aubert, M; Setiawan, P; Oktaviana, AA; Brumm, A; Sulistyarto, PH; Saptomo, EW; Istiawan, B; Ma'rifat, TA; Wahyuono, VN; Atmoko, FT; Zhao, JX; Huntley, J; Taçon, PSC; Howard, DL; Brand, HEA
    Figurative cave paintings from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi date to at least 35,000 years ago (ka) and hand-stencil art from the same region has a minimum date of 40 ka1. Here we show that similar rock art was created during essentially the same time period on the adjacent island of Borneo. Uranium-series analysis of calcium carbonate deposits that overlie a large reddish-orange figurative painting of an animal at Lubang Jeriji Saléh—a limestone cave in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo—yielded a minimum date of 40 ka, which to our knowledge is currently the oldest date for figurative artwork from anywhere in the world. In addition, two reddish-orange-coloured hand stencils from the same site each yielded a minimum uranium-series date of 37.2 ka, and a third hand stencil of the same hue has a maximum date of 51.8 ka. We also obtained uranium-series determinations for cave art motifs from Lubang Jeriji Saléh and three other East Kalimantan karst caves, which enable us to constrain the chronology of a distinct younger phase of Pleistocene rock art production in this region. Dark-purple hand stencils, some of which are decorated with intricate motifs, date to about 21–20 ka and a rare Pleistocene depiction of a human figure—also coloured dark purple—has a minimum date of 13.6 ka. Our findings show that cave painting appeared in eastern Borneo between 52 and 40 ka and that a new style of parietal art arose during the Last Glacial Maximum. It is now evident that a major Palaeolithic cave art province existed in the eastern extremity of continental Eurasia and in adjacent Wallacea from at least 40 ka until the Last Glacial Maximum, which has implications for understanding how early rock art traditions emerged, developed and spread in Pleistocene Southeast Asia and further afield. © 2018 Springer Nature Limited