Geometric Signs: Pectiform

This term comes from the Latin word for comb-shaped (Bahn & Vertut 1997: 167), and as the description implies, has a central line, with a series of lines extending from one side of it at 90° angles.

I debated whether to combine this abstract shape in with the penniform sign type, since they have many similarities, but after having seen some very distinct pectiforms in Spanish sites such as Cueva la Pileta (see below), I believe it should have its own category.

This sign type is present at 8 sites, and occurs in only three periods: the Gravettian, Magdalenian and Late Magdalenian. With only one site in the Gravettian, and one in the Late Magdalenian, the Magdalenian clearly has the highest occurrence frequency, though the small number of sites where this sign type occurs makes it difficult to establish any real patterning.

The Gravettian site and the majority of the Magdalenian sites are in SW France, with two more Magdalenian sites near the Pyrénées, and the only Late Magdalenian site being over in the SE region. Noting that there is a break in the timeline with an absence of Solutrean sites, and knowing that this sign type is present in Spain (I am not yet sure what time periods they appear in), more information would certainly be gained by expanding the geographic range of research to the south.

Texto e imagen reproducidos de: Geometric Signs - A New Understanding by Genevieve von Petzinger.
Entrada relacionada: Messages from the Stone Age (18 de febrero de 2010).

Nota: Las pinturas rupestres de la imagen son signos esquemáticos del horizonte post-paleolítico de la Cueva de la Pileta. Ejemplos probables de pectiformes del paleolítico superior podemos encontrarlos asociados a representaciones rupestres del Magdaleniense superior (o episodios muy tardíos del Tardiglaciar. Sanchidrián, 1997) en el Salón de las Pinturas de La Pileta. Ver lámina por H. Breuil: