A team of University of York archaeologists is capturing photos of prehistoric paintings from an altitude of 7,000 feet using laser and white-light scanners powered by car batteries. The paintings are the highest prehistoric paintings of animals in all of Europe, located 2,133 meters above sea level in the Abri Faravel rock shelter in the Southern French Alps.
Using their pioneering scans, the team created virtual models of the archaeological landscape.
The Abri Faravel rock shelter was discovered in 2010 and possesses signs of human activity from the Mesolithic to the medieval period, including unique prehistoric rock paintings of quadrupeds.
The team's current examination of the paintings in Abri Faravel is a part of a collaborative project between the University of York and the Centre Camille Jullian, Aix-en-Provence, France that seeks to investigate human activity and development over the last 8,000 years at high altitudes in the Southern Alps.
The paintings can be used to craft a picture of the human occupation and activity that took place from the Mesolithic to Post-Medieval period, which is considered to be one of the world's most challenging environments.
"As this site is so unusual, we made the decision to carry out a laser-scan of the rock shelter and the surrounding landscape, plus a white-light scan of the actual paintings," said Kevin Walsh of the University of York and lead author of the study. "The scanning was logistically complex as our only source of electricity was car batteries, which, along with all of the scanning equipment, had to be carried up to the site."
"This is the only example of virtual models, including a scan of the art, done at high altitude in the Alps and probably the highest virtual model of an archaeological landscape in Europe," he added.
In addition to the paintings, the team has discovered numerous high altitude stone animal enclosures and human dwellings from the Bronze Age. These structures are considered to be some of the most complex from their time. They have also found Neolithic flint tools, hand-thrown pottery from the Iron Age and medieval metalwork.
The findings were published in the May 25 issue of the open-access journal Internet Archaeology.
