Traces of Touch: From Palaeolithic Embodied Markings to Amazonian Decorated Hands

Deep within Ardales Cave in southern Spain, in its most secluded chamber, someone dragged their pigment-coated hands downwards for over a metre, leaving behind two striking markings. Such gestures are not unique to Ardales—they appear across Europe and beyond. In the Middle Palaeolithic, humans began to explore underground spaces, leaving painted traces of their bodies, often in hard-to-reach places. Smeared or traced with hands and fingers or sprayed with the mouth, these markings reflect a deep connection to the body—not only in form, but in gesture and technique. They show how humans engaged with surfaces not to depict, but to touch.

This lecture explores the archaeology of touch through embodied markings: non-figurative, body-derived traces created through choreographed interaction with surfaces. From the gripping and grabbing impressions at Ardales and El Castillo to framed stencils at Pech Merle, each mark captures a moment of bodily gesture with place. In the Colombian Amazon, decorated handprints offer new perspectives on repetition and relationality—the hand itself becoming the canvas. Experimental replication—spraying pigment, decorating palms, testing paint mixtures and techniques—offers clues to posture and tactile engagement. Through them, we glimpse how people once visited caves as sensory, storied spaces.

Order of events:

4.30pm Presentation President’s Awards, Peter Clarke Award and the Student Dissertation Prizes.

5-5.45pm: Lecture

5.45-6.45pm: Wine reception.

FREE to attend and no need to book for in person or online: just turn up or watch on our live YouTube feed