Man & ghostly "woman", Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Schematic bovid #1, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Schematic bovid #2, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Large & small horses, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #5
Large & small horses, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #7
Execution or trance dance social scene & deer, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Deer below execution or trance dance social scene, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Prostrate figures at center of "execution" or trance dance scene, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012
Striding man with object in hand, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Man carrying bundle, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Peripheral man with exfoliated leg, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Men with raised arms over prostrate figures, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Execution or trance dance scene & deer, Grotta dell’Addaura 1, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Sea & Cliff, Grotta dell’Addaura, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Aurochs bull & cow, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Gracile aurochs on right, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Robust aurochs on left, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Aurochs bull & cow, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #5
Aurochs bull & cow, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #9
Aurochs bull & cow, Grotta dell’Addaura II, Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #11
Grotta dell’Addaura II, Grotta dell’Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Cliff & rock fall, Largest cave in Grotta dell’Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012
Cliff & sea, Grotta dell’Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #5
Cliff & sea, Grotta dell’Addaura Cave complex, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #6
Small raised cave, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Two aurochs, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Top left aurochs, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Top right aurochs, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Two aurochs lit, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Right equid, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Right equid, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Left equid, Wild ass?, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Two equids under 2 aurochs, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Two equids under 2 aurochs, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Two equids under aurochs lit, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Aurochs & equids, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Punic ship engravings, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #6
Two aurochs lit, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Panel with aurochs, equids & punic ships, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Panel with aurochs, equids & punic ships, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Two aurochs lit, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #5
Two aurochs lit, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #7
Vestigial engravings exposed to weathering, Left of entrance, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #1
Vestigial engravings exposed to weathering, Left of entrance, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2
Entrance in cliff, Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #3
Rudists in limestone, Mesozoic reef-building mollusc, near Grotta Niscemi, Palermo, Sicily © Duncan Caldwell 2012 #2

Sicilian rock art

 

 

The Upper Paleolithic cave art of the Grotta dell’Addaura (I & II) and Grotta Niscemi in Palermo on the island of Sicily


Although the Grotta dell’Addaura is currently closed to the public because of rock falls, the Epigravettian art of the cave and its neighbors, Addaura II and Grotta Niscemi, which is contemporaneous with Magdalenian art in France, is exquisite. The engravings in Addaura I represent one of the most complex social scenes anywhere in Upper Paleolithic art. 


Please click on photos to enlarge them.



© 2012 Duncan Caldwell on all photos

All rights reserved, Please contact caldwellnd (at) aol.com for permission to use any of these photographs.