Application of forensic methods analysing prehistoric handprints - A dactyloscopic approach

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Harald Floss
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 545203024

Representations of hands are a widespread phenomenon in cave and rock art. From the Upper Palaeolithic cave art sites in the Ardèche region alone more than 600 hand positives and negatives as well as palm prints are known. Possible reasons for people leaving them are a subject of lively debate among researchers. Could they be signatures or are they possibly related to apotropaically motivated rituals in animistic societies? Imprints of human extremities are of particular interest to law enforcement agencies in today’s societies. This is due to the fact that, unlike the rest of the human body, both the inner surface of the hands as well as the foot soles are covered with so-called friction ridge skin, showing very delicate structures, the papillary ridges. The course of these ridges varies from person to person, even in identical twins, and it is invariable during life. Due to these circumstances, such so-called dactyloscopic traces play a crucial role in person identification processes. Because of the very specific expertise needed to properly analyze imprints left by humans we are cooperating with the Landeskriminalamt (State Office of Criminal Investigation) of Baden-Württemberg in this project. A significant part of archaeological work is occupied by the attempt to reconstruct the behavior of people living in the past. Thereby ideally an individual can be identified. Conducting research on Palaeolithic cave art, the question of who entered these areas which are often cut-off from daylight and drew the impressive paintings that have survived until today is electrifying. Analyzing the aforementioned dactyloscopic traces makes it possible to identify very specific individuals like no other method does. Within the research project Upper Palaeolithic palm and finger prints are to be investigated conducting a dactyloscopic analysis. The eligible depictions stem from the context of Franco-Cantabrian cave art. The project will focus on the Grotte aux Points, located in the Ardèche Gorges, where an extraordinary number of palm prints exhibiting amazingly well-preserved images of papillary ridges has been discovered. This art ensemble shows striking similarities with the famous Grotte Chauvet. Based on the research results, the application of the method shall be tested on two other archaeologial sites located in Spain indicating a comparable potential. Addressing the important question of who was engaging in the act of painting, the contextual issue will be whether the imprints on a cave wall were left by the same person or by different individuals. Can we assume a ‘single-authorship’ or some kind of ‘collective act’? Furthermore, the biological and morphological background of the dactyloscopic traces as well as specific manufacturing techniques of the depictions will be addressed. By means of the research project, we aim to significantly expand our knowledge of the authorship of Palaeolithic cave art by applying the dactyloscopic method.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants