TRACCE no. 

Palaeolithic figures in rock n. 1 of the Vermelhosa - Côa Valley area back to index

Environment. Rock n. 1 of the Vermelhosa Valley (Côa Valley area) lies at 180 m altitude, on the left orographic side of the Douro River, which is flowing few scores of meters below. The Douro is now 10-20 m higher thanks to the Pocinho dam, situated 6 km down in the valley. The surrounding hills are (mostly were) covered by a terrace-cultivation of olive-tree, almond-tree, and a large extension of vines producing the best Porto wine. The climate is very hot and with no rain during all the summer.

Lithology. The rock, having survived to the destruction caused by the terrace creation, looks like a red vertical smooth panel, 7.50 m large and 3.30 high, facing SSE. It's a Greywacke Ordovician Schist, Desejosa Formation (see better detailed description in J. A. Bravo Nunez text), a metamorphosed oceanic clay and sand not soluble in water, and so not affected by erosion. Thus being very stable and smooth, the panel is crossed by a lot of multi-plane fractures, which subdivide the body of the rock in various polyhedric blocks. These blocks can be displaced by various factors (tree roots, tectonic movements, water action). So the engravings are perfectly preserved, unfortunately sometimes showing the loss of some entire sectors. Other times we can find the same figure subdivided along two different surfaces, now not at the same plane.
The surface is also affected by many (not very large) vertical lines of percolated concretions, which sometimes overlap the engravings.

<- Plumed figure (left down) - | - Megaceros like figure (right up) ->

Engraving technique. All the engraved figures are done by very fine scratched lines (described in Italian with the term of "filiforme", it means like a thread). The internal colour of the engravings can be darker, lighter, or the same as the external surface, depending a lot on percolation and vegetal or mineral alteration. Anyway it's very clear that a well defined kind of figures (horses and warriors, see the Iron-Age section by A. Fossati) are much lighter ("white") than all the others. All the figures can be easily obtained by a stone or a metal point. The lighter figures show longer curved and less deep lines (as if executed only by a light scratch, and not engraved), and so they were probably obtained by a metal point (a little knife is sufficient), In the other figures we can find a lot of best detailed particulars, as for example the whiskers of a gazelle-like figure. We can sometimes find a deeper point at the beginning of the line, probably caused by the first impact of the stone tool.

Superimpositions. Thus it's sure that many superimpositions between figures lie on the rock surface, it's quite impossible to detect them without a microscope. The most noticeable evidence is that the already described lighter figures have been executed after the darker ones. But if we look attentively at the intersection of the lines we can notice that the newest ones don't cut the oldest: they simply "jump" across. It means that they were executed with a minor pressure. It also means that, if the internal colour of the engraved lines was the same, we wouldn't be able in a technical way to detect any priority. We can only detect which figure has been executed with a harder pressure.

Recording techniques. The rock surface has been divided in two sectors. Sector "A", on the right side, has been completely traced (1996, September) on 19 standard plastic sheets (contact transparency method, see related text of B. Campos). Also J. Kolber's sketching method was partially utilised. Pictures has been taken with natural and artificial grazing light, searching with the sun and the mirrors to obtain the best "visibility" of the engravings, in other ways very hard to recognise. Both for the Rupestrian Archaeology and the Geological parts specific rock records were filled.

<- Roof like figure (left down) - | - Mammoth like figure (right up) ->

New discoveries, figures and styles. The final result of the tracing shows a huge and close intersection of hundreds (thousands?) of scratched lines. Particularly the central area is completely filled. We can find the first engraved lines a few centimetres up to the soil level (corresponding with the mother-rock level). The upper lines has been executed higher than 2.50 m, thus utilising artificial stairs (or something like them). The rock is now under study, and all the figures not yet entirely recognised. For the moment we can recognise:

1. 5 lighter horses and ridden horses figures
2. 1 outlined deer figure; this figure show a dorsal line very similar to the Megaceros one.
3. 1 mammoth like head and dorsal line, to be discussed with specialists
4. 1 a lion or feline little head
5. 3 filled deer figures
6. 8 generic quadruped figures, probably female deers; between them a gazelle-like figure, hit by a spear
7. 1 little female figure; two more female figures have been detected in sector B
8. 2 roof-like figures
9. 3 plumed figures
10. faggot-like figures (9 vertical, 8 horizontal)
11. 2 ondulated figures
12. parallel scratched lines
13. isolated or not identified scratched lines

• all the deers and the "quadrupeds" have been engraved looking at the same side (right)
• lower quadruped figures are isolated and littler
• the megaceros-like deer and the supposed mammoth head have been executed at the same level and with an only "outline" technique (the body is not filled)