[CLSTR]
API
< Back to situations

Monitor this situation.

[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE] · [CULTURE]

4 clusters · 10 sources · 16 days · First seen · Last updated

Archaeological cave and rock art discoveries

Overview

Research into ancient caves continues to reveal diverse aspects of human history, ranging from prehistoric symbolic communication to historical legends. In Europe and Australia, researchers are utilizing modern methodologies to decode rock engravings that may represent early forms of complex narratives and ancestral beliefs.

A significant recent discovery occurred in Catalonia, Spain, at the Cova de la Font Major, near Espluga de Francolí in the province of Tarragona. Despite the cave being a known tourist site since the 1950s, archaeologists identified approximately 280 Upper Paleolithic engravings that had previously gone undetected. These motifs, which may date back as far as 26,000 years to the Ice Age, include 55 animal figures such as horses, deer, bears, goats, and bovids, as well as geometric shapes, parallel lines, swirls, and abstract patterns.

Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), including Josep Maria Vergès Bosch and Míriam Salas-Altès, identified the motifs after investigating vertical lines in a side cave. The findings, published in the journal Antiquity, represent one of the largest collections of Paleolithic cave art ever found in Mediterranean Iberia, now considered the third largest concentration of Ice Age cave art on the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula. Míriam Salas-Altès suggested that the dark conditions within the cave made the ancient etchings difficult to distinguish from modern graffiti. The discovery challenges existing understandings of Paleolithic art traditions, as the style at Font Major differs from the northern Franco-Cantabrian tradition, suggesting a distinct local artistic practice.

Entities

Cova de la Font Major · Antiquity · Míriam Salas-Altès · Catalonia · Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution

Timeline

  1. [CULTURE] 4 sources
    Catalonia cave discovery reveals 280 Paleolithic engravings

    Archaeologists in Catalonia have discovered 280 Paleolithic engravings in the Cova de la Font Major cave, a find that challenges previous theories about the prevalence of prehistoric art in northeastern Spain.

  2. [CULTURE] 3 sources
    Spain cave discovery reveals 280 prehistoric engravings

    Archaeologists discovered 280 prehistoric engravings in Spain's Cova de la Font Major, including animal depictions dating back roughly 26,000 years.

  3. [CULTURE] 3 sources
    Spain cave discovery reveals 280 Ice Age rock engravings

    Archaeologists discovered 280 Ice Age engravings in Spain's Cova de la Font Major, a popular tourist cave, dating back at least 19,000 years.

  4. [CULTURE] 2 sources
    Ancient cave discoveries and prehistoric rock art

    Explorations of global cave sites reveal a mix of prehistoric rock art used for early communication and historical sites linked to legends and conflicts in Scotland, Arizona, and Nevada.

Sources

bigportal.ba · danas.rs · europesays.com · fanpage.it · gizmodo.com · kreiszeitung.de · leinetal24.de · oantagonista.com.br · op-online.de · tz.de

This summary has been updated 2 times: see revision history