El sitio de As Portas/Fragas do Mourão (Carrazedo de Montenegro, Portugal) en el contexto del arte esquemático del Noroeste Peninsular

Abstract

The north-west of Iberia is a particularly interesting region to study the convergence of different prehistoric rock art traditions, an issue that has been reinforced over the last years both due to the increasing number of sites that have been filling in the distributions map of Schematic Art paintings in north-east Portugal and to the paradigmatic findings of similar evidence in south-eastern Galicia, where this reality was unknown.

In this context, this paper brings the first news of the discovery of prehistoric rock paintings belonging to that artistic tradition at As Fragas do Mourão, one of the westernmost sites identified to date in northwestern Iberia. It is a distinctive assemblage that brings together the typical imagery of the Schematic Art repertoire, rather unusual iconographic compositions, and a considerable amount of cup-marks scattered throughout the rock surfaces of a conspicuous quartzite crest that structures the landscape. At present, the rock paintings occupy a circumscribed space of great visual and sensory impact due to the immanent presence of water and distinctive geoforms.