Engraved Plaque

Tossal de la Roca (La Vall d'Alcalá, Alicante) Chalky limestone h: 10.5 cm; w: 6.5 cm; d: 3 cm Upper Palaeolithic Late Upper Magdalenian

Fragment of a trapezoid-shaped plaque, on whose obverse side, naturally flattened and covered with a reddish-wine-coloured ochre that highlights the engravings, is the head of a doe standing alert amidst a chaos of indecipherable lines. Ears, one raised and the other slightly downturned, neck and muzzle, both elongated, are drawn with a simple, broad line, which is also deep and U-shaped in section. The mouth and eye are detailed on the inside of the figure, and the line of the jaw seems to have been corrected, shortening it, and the line above the testicle and the beginning of the muzzle. The simplicity of the decorative ensemble stands out. The geometric motifs are represented by a series of lines parallel to the axis of the support on which small perpendicular incisions are drawn.
The ensemble is in keeping with the characteristics of Mediterranean furniture art. In addition to its simplicity, there is a figurative animalistic theme, which in the Tossal de la Roca is reflected in the dominance of hinds. Comparing its style, naturalistic with a tendency towards schematism, it can be chronologically dated to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic and the beginning of the Epipalaeolithic.
C.S.: 1234
CACHO QUESADA, C. and RIPOLL LÓPEZ, S., 1987.