One of the main objectives of Palaeolithic art researchers is to study and systematise the form of artistic representations. Some methodologies include the analysis of qualitative variables, linear measurements or the use of geometric morphometry with landmarks. However, these techniques depend to a large extent on the subjectivity of the researcher, which often leads to biased results. To overcome this issue, we present an application of geometric morphometry using Elliptic Fourier Analysis (EFA), together with multivariate statistics and hypothesis testing, for the first time to the study of form in prehistoric art. In order to explain its use, the “duck-bill” convention of pre-Magdalenian horses, often used as a chronological and geographical marker, has been used as a case study. This formalism is described disparately in the literature, so the main objective is to use EFA to determine whether it is possible to characterise this type of convention according to the definitions given by certain authors. The results indicate a possible classification of the heads of these animals. Through this taxonomic proposal, it has been possible to verify the great diversity of forms in which the authors classify the duck-bill horses and, therefore, to demonstrate that this peculiar form can be considered neither a conventionalism nor a chronological/regional marker. In conclusion, the methodology based on EFA combined with multivariate statistics for the objective study of form in prehistoric art is effective and opens a new avenue of analysis in the art of prehistoric societies.

旧石器时代艺术研究人员的主要目标之一是研究艺术表现形式并将其系统化。一些方法包括定性变量分析、线性测量或使用具有界标的几何形态测量。然而，这些技术在很大程度上取决于研究人员的主观性，这往往会导致有偏差的结果。为了克服这个问题，我们首次提出了使用椭圆傅里叶分析（EFA）的几何形态测量学的应用，以及多元统计和假设检验，以研究史前艺术的形式。为了解释其用途，前马格达林时代马的“鸭嘴”惯例通常被用作时间和地理标记，已被用作案例研究。这种形式主义在文献中的描述各不相同，因此主要目标是使用 EFA 来确定是否可以根据某些作者给出的定义来描述这种类型的惯例。结果表明这些动物头部的可能分类。通过这个分类学建议，可以验证作者对鸭嘴马进行分类的形式的巨大多样性，因此可以证明这种特殊的形式既不能被视为约定论，也不能被视为时间/区域标记。总之，基于全民教育结合多元统计的方法论对史前艺术形式的客观研究是有效的，为史前社会艺术的分析开辟了新的途径。