Cueva de las Manos is named for the hundreds of hand paintings stenciled into multiple collages on the rock walls. The art in the Cueva de las Manos is some of the most important art in the
New World, and by far the most famous rock art in the Patagonian region. The art dates to between around 7,300 BC to 700 AD, during the
Archaic period of
Pre-Columbian South America. Scholars Ralph Crane and Lisa Fletcher assert that the rock art at Cueva de las Manos includes the oldest-known
cave paintings in South America. The artwork decorates the interior of the cave and the surrounding cliff faces. It can be divided by subject into three basic categories: people, the animals they ate, and the human hand.
radiocarbon dating of the artwork itself, Chemical analysis of the pigments used to create the painting, and analysis of the stylistic aspects and
superimposition (overlap) of the different parts of the art has verified that it is authentic.
Forms Earlier works in the cave were more
naturalistic—they looked close to how the subjects of the art would have looked in real life. Over time, depictions became more abstract and different in form from how the subject would normally look. There are 829 left hands to 31 right hands, The varying depth of the rock face alters the "canvas" of the artwork, and the different depths from the viewer alter the way the images are seen, based on where the viewer is standing. There is a large amount of superimposition of the handprints in different areas, There are also depictions of human beings, guanacos, Regardless of its purpose, the artwork played a key role in the
collective social memories of the peoples who inhabited the area, with earlier groups influencing later ones through a narrative spanning millennia. Important aspects of the culture of the hunter-gatherers are shown in the themes of the art, such as the reproductive cycles of guanacos and collective hunting. as well as a decorative one. However,
Jean Clottes has challenged this perspective, stating that "the likelihood of such behavior is virtually zero." There are also hypotheses that the works were part of
hunting magic, with
Alan Thorne suggesting that they might have been created as part of efforts to influence the number of animals available to be hunted. Regardless, the fact that many people gathered in one place to contribute to the rock art for such a long period shows a large cultural significance, or at least usefulness, to those who participated. producing black; and copper oxide, producing green.
Gypsum was used,
Stylistic groups Specialists have categorized the art into four stylistic groups, as proposed by Carlos Gradin and adapted and modified by others: A, B, B1, and C, also known as
Río Pinturas I,
II,
III, and
IV, respectively. This is especially true in the use of these irregularities to represent the topography of the settings of the images, such as in the depiction of ravines. These series are classified as A1 (Ochre series), which is primarily made up of ochre and some red; A2 (Black series), which is predominantly black but also contains some dark purple; A3 (Red series) which primarily incorporates red; A4 (Purplish/Dark Red series), which uses purplish red and dark red; and A5 (White/Yellow series), which predominately uses the color white but also incorporates yellow-ochre. The Black series in particular introduced several artistic innovations that were carried forward into subsequent artistic styles. Stylistic group A ended during the H1 eruption of the
Hudson volcano, which took place around 4,770/4,675 BC It is very likely that this eruption is what caused the end of this stylistic group.
Stylistic groups B and B1 A new cultural group, lasting from around 5,000 BC until around 1,300 BC, created the art of what is now considered stylistic groups B (Río Pinturas II) and B1 (Río Pinturas III). These pregnant guanacos and their style and construction were first introduced as part of the Black series of Stylistic group A. the group includes hand stencils, bola marks, and dotted line patterns.
Stylistic group C Stylistic group C, Río Pinturas IV, begins around 700 AD and marks the last of the stylistic sequences in the cave. The group focuses around abstract geometric figures, including highly schematic silhouettes of both animal and human figures, alongside circles, zigzag patterns, dots, and more hands superimposed onto larger groups of hands. The primary color is red. ==Cultural significance and conservation==