Dr. Bruno Chanet
Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer
29-08-02
It is always difficult to
try to identify which species an animal drawn in a cave belongs to, especially if the
drawing represents a rarely represented species. The style of the artist does not follow
the rules of a scientific paper of the 21st century and the different superimposition do
not enlighten the nature of the original specimen. Anyway, identifying accurately a
species is important in providing data about the fauna, the food and the practices of the
populations living in a precise place at a precise time.
El Pez is the representation of a big fish (1.5 m long) drawn in one of
the deepest part of the cave
(sit.18).
The fish is viewed by its right side which shows the two eyes. This feature is important :
only adult fishes belonging to the Pleuronectiformes order, better known as flatfish like
the sole or the turbot, possess such an ocular asymmetry, with the two eyes present on one
side, right or left according to the species. Moreover, the two median fins (dorsal and
anal fins) extend all along the body and the dorsal fin extends onto the head ; these two
features confirm that El Pez is the representation of a flatfish. If we compare it to the
recent species present in the Spanish waters, the fact that the two eyes are present on
the right side, the orientation of the mouth and the shape of the body lead to the
conclusion that this flatfish belongs to the family Pleuronectidae and can be considered
as a representation of a European Flounder (Platichthys flesus L., Platija in Spanish).
But, the crescent-shaped caudal fin is quite unusual among flatfishes and we cannot reject
the hypothesis that the whole fish is composite.
The European Flounder is a common species of flatfish on all the
western Europe coasts, from the seashore to 60 m deep. This species can be met in
estuaries, tolerates freshwater ; some European Flounders were caught in rivers several
hundred kilometres away from the sea. This biological particularity prevents us from
thinking that the populations who drew El Pez were for sure in contact with the sea or
able to fish.
Nevertheless, El Pez is worth mentioning because it seems to be the
oldest representation of a flatfish and shows that flatfish have interested people at
least since the Magdalenian.
Dr. Bruno Chanet
IUEM-UBO
(Plouzané, France) Bruno.Chanet@wanadoo.fr
To know more:
• Au Platologiste inconnu des grottes andalouses. SFI-infos, 2002, 22-23:5. Article
• Description of El Pez by H. Breuil:
"...Le grand Poisson est tracé
fermement, mais non sans gaucheri'e; il semble figurer un poisson de mer, du groupe des
Plies ou des Barbues, gráce à la torsion de tous les organes, de la gueule, des
nageoires pectorales, à ´l'absence des nageoires dorsales et anales, remplacées,
semble-t-il, par une membrane marginale suivant les rebords et marquée par le contour
redoublé de la périphérie. Toutefois la queue, large et á forts ailerons massifs ne
coincide pas avec ces caractéres, que l'on retrouve cependant plus ou moins dans les
autres Poissons déjà cités." Page 39 of La Pileta à Benaojan, 1915.
• Other fishes
painted in La
Pileta: 1. The biggest one is in El Salón (sit.2);
2. Fishes from the Fishes gallery (sit.10) drawn by H. Breuil.
• Prehistoric fishers in the cave of Nerja (Málaga). Article
• The Fish of Ardales cave
(Málaga).
