The recent discovery of new Paleolithic figures and engravings in the Altamira Cantabrian cave (Santillana del Mar) confirms the enormous potential that the cavity has for researchers, and also that in the different galleries there is much more rock art than was known until now.
These findings are part of the research project ‘The first art of Humanity, the Altamira cave’, the results of which have been published in issue XXIX of the magazine of the Institute of Prehistory and Archeology Saw chairdirected by Eusebio Dohijo.
In an interview with Agencia Efe, the director of Altamira, Pilar Fatásassures that these discoveries represent “opening a door” to continue learning about the past and what those primitive human beings who lived and painted the ceilings and walls of the cave were like for at least 36,000 years.
Altamira treasures much more rock art than was known until now
This study has allowed us to document 33 figures, representations of animalslike deer or a “possible” horse, mostly very fine engravings, part in red and other areas in black charcoal, which are found on a 28-meter wall located in sector 5 of the cavity.
Of all of them, 10 were already known since the beginning of the 20th century, but the novelty is that, along with the rest of the identified figures, they have been valued in terms of antiquity with respect to the paintings in the polychrome roomwhich is the best known part of the cave.
The value of the new findings lies in the fact that they allow us to continue completing the inventory of rock art representations inside the Altamira cave, especially in the more than 300 meters long the galleries of the cavity that were less studied for conservation reasons.
Fatás explains that the importance of the documented figures is that they allow us to continue chronologically framing the representations made during the several millennia in which the Altamira cave and its decorated walls were inhabited.
It highlights that there are two documented phases in the making of Altamira paintings: one prior to the bison on the ceiling of the polychromes, whose chronology is very extensive given that the first figure is 36,000 years old and the last one is about 16,000, and another that is considered contemporary to those paintings.
20,000 years of art
The director of Altamira highlights the importance of the polychrome ceiling as a compendium of 20,000 years of prehistoric art in a space of 150 square meters, but also of the new findings that are being produced through the research project.
In his opinion, Altamira still has “a lot of potential” for researchers, since until now their work was limited by restricted access to the original cave due to conservation reasons. However, in recent years this situation has changed thanks to the improvement of technologies, which allow scientists to limit their stay inside the cave and invest much more time in the laboratory to complete the research.
The director of Altamira, Pilar Fatás, with a copy of the magazine where the new discoveries are published.
Efe
Fatás assures that the progressive monographic study of different sectors and surfaces of the Altamira cave will allow further progress in a global understanding of his paleolithic art. In particular, it will help researchers gain a more reliable understanding of graphic processes, the value of graphics for Paleolithic societies and the interpretation of Paleolithic art.
For this reason, the published study indicates that the new findings point to considering that these graphic manifestations began in the second half of the Gravettian (between 32,500 and 24,500 years ago), with a very specific graphic activity, focused on engraving and figures with very simple lines.
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