La Espiral Cave (Cuba): Guano and signs of plant substances used as paint ingredients

Abstract

At La Espiral cave, located in Bahia Honda municipality (Artemisa province, Cuba), there are several pictographs, including two of particular importance due to the designused: oneofconcentriccirclesandanother ofaspiral.We analyzed the pigments and binders used in one of these pictographs. The chemical ingredients of the paint are considered in this article,aswell as the use ofbat guano asa major pigment compound. The apparent presence of ellagic acid, ellagitannin, or anthocyanins would strengthen the hypothesis that artists used vegetable protein as a paint binder or solvent.