Graphic Gesture and Skill
The painted motif on a wall keeps the memory of gesture which produces it. However, it is not possible to reproduce gesture if the motif is not put in context. The cultural parameters (from the circumstances of its production to its choice) and physical parameters (from its material to its morphology) which have accompanied its drawing have to be presented. The sign is hence studied in the context of anthropology of gesture. Because of oldness of facts, gestures associated with walled graphic expressions of Neolithic age have to be presented together with criteria such as cultural constraints (which specify the location of figures), and ritual practices (which are originally of graphic expression), keeping in mind the topography of walls and sites. The writer perceives, adapts and acts within his spatial and social environment. Some cultural strategies are examined : attention for the micropography of the wall in linking with the signs to draw ; respect of criterias which justify the choice of the site (such as the dampness of space and the orange colour of walls) ; willingness to paint as far as the limits of the accessibility of sites and walls can allow ; use of brushes for increasing the ability of the body. The efficiency of gesture lies in the production of a motif with a meaning because its presence is appropriate with the culturally oriented perception of the characteristics of its support. From the analysis of an ancient ground, we draw elements of an anthropological reflection about others graphic practices such as the contemporary and urban expressions of tags and street art.