Dialogues in Cuban Archaeology

5 / Cave Encounters
Rock Art Research in Cuba
Marlene S. Linville
Rock art has been found in nearly every country of the world (Bahn 1996).
With over 700 examples, Cuba is no exception. Images painted, pecked, incised,
or carved onto rock are among the most distinctive remains left by the
early inhabitants of the Cuban archipelago. Since the mid-nineteenth century,
intriguing paintings found on cave walls have fascinated not only the Cuban
people but others who have contemplated both the makers and the meanings
of these human creations left to embellish the natural landscape. Researchers
from diverse disciplines, from Cuba and elsewhere, have sought answers to the
same questions in the paintings, as well as in petroglyphs and other sculpted
images: Who made the images? How did they do it? When? Why? What do
they mean?
More than 130 rock art sites have been recorded in Cuba (Núñez Jiménez
1990:425). Generally located in caves, grottoes, or rock shelters, most are associated
with “dark zone locations” of underground limestone caverns which,
Greer suggests, “were speci¤cally selected for special use throughout the island’s
occupational history for several thousand years.” 1 For the past six decades,
detailed data have been collected for these sites as a part of intensive
efforts by researchers to document the speleological features of the Cuban
landscape. This extensive set of data continues to fuel analyses of the nation’s
rock art.
Various techniques used to produce rock art have been identi¤ed in Cuba
(Núñez Jiménez 1990:425), including both additive and subtractive processes.
In addition to applying pigments to produce paintings (pictographs) on ®at