Archaeometric Analysis of Pigments, Cueva Higuerillas Rock Art Site (Sonora, Mexico)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Value of Rock Art: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Current Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis, Part I" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cucurpe is in northwestern Sonora (Mexico), in the lower foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental. The region is characterised by rock art in small caves and rock shelters of volcanic tuff with a higher concentration of paintings than engravings. During the recording of one of these rock art sites, Cueva Higuerillas, small fragments of what appeared to contain traces of pigment were located on the surface of the rock shelter floor. In this paper we present new analyses of the samples, and the results obtained, both from XRF observations and from metallographic and Scanning Electron Microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope observations of the samples, as well as from the cross-sections that were carried out. These analyses were complemented by analyses of the pigment particles. This has allowed us to have an approach to the general composition of the samples, as well as to observe their microstratigraphy, which provides us with information about their possible origin and formation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• The Value of Rock Art: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Current Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis, Part I

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52030