Manganese black pigments in prehistoric paintings: The case of the black frieze of Pech-Merle (France)

Different black pigments of natural origin (mineral or organic) have been e xamined by means of several analytical methods (colour measurements, elemen tal analysis and structural analysis). The results, after being compared wi th each other, then served as reference points in the study of the 'Black F rieze' of the cave of Pech Merle (Lot). After that, colour measurement was investigated in situ on the paintings as a means of displaying small differ ences (in hue or chroma) between black colours. The aim of this study was t o verify several hypotheses concerning the techniques used by the painters of Pech Merle, and specifically by the one(s) of the Black Frieze. A first objective was that of identifying the nature and if possible, the origin of the black pigments used in these figures. A second objective was that of d etermining in which parts of the frieze one or the other (or one and the ot her) had been used; and the final objective was to provide new technical in formation that might help us better to understand how the Pech Merle frieze was produced, whether by a single painter and in one episode, for the most part, or, on the contrary, in several episodes and by a succession of diff erent painters.