Cave Art Tour Spain

10/02/2024

~24,000 years ago, a Paleolithic person recognized the natural features in a cave wall as those of a female deer.

The person was likely not just anybody, but rather a special person that was charged with recording, communicating and transmitting the culture and beliefs of a certain group, in a certain area and in a certain point in time in the Paleolithic.

The person followed stylistic, functional, and very likely cultural conventions. It was important to do so, for them, for their local group and for a larger audience, part of their cultural identity but that may have to travel some distance to share in this.

One female deer, whose neck and rump are part of the wall , whose other features were “completed” by a special person with a vision, not just for this figure, but for its place among some 20 others and for everyone that would be invited to see it. Quite a responsibility bestowed on a person.

The person’s command of perspective, volume and anatomy are obvious. This figure likely awed viewers in the Gravettian when it was created and shared with others. It awes me every time I see it, especially in the context of the mural it is part of and the disposition of this mural in the cave.

An exceptional “artist” who was likely less interested in personal recognition, rather than the responsibility for transmitting their culture.

04/09/2023

Altamira Sunrise. 14.500 years in the making. Bialowieza NP, Poland.

I study/share/live/breathe Paleolithic cave art. I have stalked/hunted wild animals. Both primordial experiences. Convergence.

Before sunrise, wildlife waits for no one. Traversing prairies near the forest, hoping to spot daybreak grazing bison before retreating to the safety of the trees. Tracks. Bedding area. Dung, but dry. The scent of wild ungulate, but latent. Wild European bison, not zoo or captive herd animals. The real deal…. but no luck.

New hunting grounds. More bedding. Tracks, but not bison, huge red deer. Fresh, warm dung. Suddenly, the pungent smell of power. Then it happened.

Grazing 100m beyond, there he was. A lone, very mature, past his prime male bison bull. 900 kg of pure muscle. He noticed us but could not have cared less. He could dispense with our intrusion easily if need be. A thin line of trees allowed us enough cover to get within 25m. He looked at us more, but stuck to his plan, feed away before the direct sunlight hit the field. The rut was coming soon, but he knew he was beyond his prime. It was time to enjoy his final years and turn the charge over to the young blood.

He assumed many attitudes I had seen before on cave walls. Licking his back, sticking his tongue out, swatting flies with his tail, defecating, smiling…. simply being a bison, but it was powerful and majestic.

He proceeded to saunter off into the woods, knowing daybreak was upon us. The rays of the rising sun hit his back, Altamira cave came to life. I understood the respect Paleolithic people had for this animal and the appreciation of seeing it in the wild. The red ochre lit up his back, the black charcoal accentuated his developed musculature and the engravings outlined his profile and textured his hair perfectly. Altamira. Alive.

The cave will never be the same for me. A change of perspective. Paleolithic comprehension. As he entered the shade of the woods it was over, but never will be. Thank you Bialowieza. Thank you Altamira.

24/06/2023

Bison?

Four different bison. A live one and three separate depictions from various caves in Spain and France. Are these simply depictions of bison? What are your thoughts?

In my opinion, these are more than just bison. The gaze and attitude of the depicted bison penetrates deeper than the way a live bison looks at you. I have looked in the eyes of many live animals. Few look at you as powerfully as a human eye does (elephants and whales come to mind).

What is the intention of the artist here? They knew bison. They knew how to draw “just” a bison. This is more. Or is it?

Open to your subjective interpretation. This is the beauty of Paleolithic art. Revel in it.

20/10/2022

Paleolithic Art Toolkit.

Entering deep into a cave to create symbolic art required preparation and planning. It was not as simple as you might think.

Paleolithic artists likely entered a cave many times to study the spaces, surfaces and vantage points before creating the art. In many cases the location chosen was quite deliberate and clearly influenced by the natural volumes, contours and cracks of the cave.

Lamp. The darkness of a cave necessarily requires a light source. While torches and fires may have been used to move through and in larger areas. Smaller spaces required an ingenious solution. Bone marrow fat lamps. At some point in time humans realized that a common food source was also combustible. Using a concave, portable object to hold the fat, a vegetable matter wick impregnated with fat and a lighting source, created a movable lighting source with an oscillating flame, a clean white light and very little smoke. Easily replenished with more fat.

Stone Burins. Fabricated specifically for engraving on cave surfaces or portable objects (bone, antler, stone). Engravings could also be made using bone or even the fingers on certain softer surfaces.

Charcoal and minerals. Artists could use these to draw directly on cave surfaces. Black colors from charcoal or manganese dioxide. Shades of red/orange/yellow from iron oxide based ochres. Purplish or even rare violet in some cases.

Mortar and grinding stones. For crushing materials to make a powder to mix with water to make paint.

Shell. Used as a receptacle for paint.

Daubers. A handle with animal skin wrapped around it for applying paint. Animal skins could be used as well.

Not pictured are the ingenious airbrush they made with hollow bird bones to spray paint.

Planned. Deliberate. Purposeful. Beyond just decoration. Symbolic. Interpretation up to you…

12/08/2022

A bit deeper analysis and good discussion of evidence of Neanderthal symbolic behavior, clearly they had needs to express themselves. While still a heated debate, the question remains…

https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/did-neanderthals-make-art/

Experts debate whether Neanderthals created art. A paleoanthropologist explores the evidence and the sources of people’s skepticism.

05/08/2022

"When did humans start making art and were Neanderthals artists too?"

All of these sites are fascinating places, Neanderthal authorship or not aside. Ancient humans expressed and communicated their thoughts and/or beliefs tens of thousands of years ago. Science will answer the "Who Done It" part unequivocally at some point .

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2328736-when-did-humans-start-making-art-and-were-neanderthals-artists-too/

On a visit to see ancient cave art in Spain, Michael Marshall explores why it's so hard to calculate the age of early human artworks and whether other hominins might also have created art.

24/07/2022

Another successful tour of the Paleolithic art and archaeology of Northern Spain (and Western Iberia!)

“EXTREMELY VALUABLE AS A GUIDE...TRULY EXPERT”

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archeologist. Life took me down a different professional path but now in retirement I can indulge my prehistorian proclivities. I read a lot, listen to lectures online and have been fortunate to see most of the visitable sites in France on my own. That said, I still have much to learn. That’s what makes Charles extremely valuable as a guide. He is truly expert, having been visiting these sites as a child with his father, and interacting with Spanish archeologists as an adult. Charles is an active member of the Spanish prehistorian community. He knows all the local scientists and guides personally and often attends workshops and special, not-for-the-public tours with them—and has been a wonderful mentor for me. It is great to have a specialist with whom to discuss these issues in-depth. In fact, it’s great to have someone who wants to talk about this stuff at all; generally my other friends’ eyes glaze over a few sentences into the subject.

Charles is fluent in both Spanish and English; communication is never a problem.

Originally this tour, our second with Charles, was going to focus on things we hadn’t seen in northern Spain the first time around, but at his suggestion we met in Porto so that we could add the outdoor engravings in the Coa Valley (Portugal) and in Siega Verde (Spain). Charles only recently began touring so far from his base, and we’re glad he did. Both sites were fascinating.

Even after a tour Charles is happy to continue the dialog. For example, we are now discussing in-the-weeds issues related to Altamira by email. Charles never seems to be too busy to dive into things prehistoric.

I’m sure we’ll book with Cave Art Tour Spain again before long. ”

— Scott W., Washington, USA - April 2022

24/07/2022

Final Verdict to be answered by science at some point (thankfully).

Verdict A: more evidence of Neanderthal art with archaeological context

Verdict B: evidence of early homo sapiens incursions in areas

Verdict C: ?

https://evolutionnews.org/2022/07/neanderthal-art-if-thats-what-it-is-would-upset-the-evolutionary-paradigm/

Paleontologists resist the idea that early humans called Neanderthals created any artworks. Their reasoning is sometimes circular.

11/07/2022

A 1.4 million year old human face in Western Europe (English version at bottom)

https://nutcrackerman.com/2022/07/08/una-cara-humana-millones-anos-europa-occidental/

[English version below] El 8 de julio será recordado como un día doblemente especial para la historia de la evolución humana y, concretamente, para los hallazgos en Atapuerca. El 8 de julio de 2022…

27/06/2022

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0250497

Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Pale...

27/06/2022

https://tepetelegrams.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/on-the-hunt-some-12-000-years-ago-an-aurochs-bone-with-hunting-lesion-from-gobekli-tepe/

All archaeological finds of a site add to its history, but some can capture us with the underlying story. This is the case for an aurochs bone with an embedded flint projectile point fragment disco…

23/06/2022

The authors of the El Castillo transitional industry were Neanderthals

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-022-01587-2

Three deciduous tooth crowns were found in Unit 18B in El Castillo Cave (Spain), considered a transitional Middle-Upper Paleolithic Unit with numerous 14C dates with means earlier than > 42–44 ka cal. BP. Our goal was to describe these teeth, compare them to Neanderthal, Mousterian Modern Huma...

01/06/2022

https://phys.org/news/2022-06-famous-art-cave-spain-ancient.html #

A cave in southern Spain was used by ancient humans as a canvas for artwork and as a burial place for over 50,000 years, according to a study published June 1, 2022, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by José Ramos-Muñoz of the University of Cadiz, Spain, and colleagues.

01/06/2022

https://www.thecollector.com/how-did-a-dog-discover-the-lascaux-cave-paintings/

In the autumn of 1940, Robot the dog disappeared down a hole leading to the discovery of the Lascaux cave; where the walls had been covered in artworks created by its Palaeolithic inhabitants, nearly 20,000 years ago.

01/06/2022

31/05/2022

https://phys.org/news/2022-05-undersea-stone-age-cave-art.amp

To reach the only place in the world where cave paintings of prehistoric marine life have been found, archaeologists have to dive to the bottom of the Mediterranean off southern France.

28/05/2022

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01372-0

Molar found in Laos could be the first fossil evidence that the hominin species was far-ranging and able to adapt to different climates.

28/05/2022

Atapuerca is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world for human evolution. 1.3 million years of record and five different human species.

https://www.thoughtco.com/sima-de-los-huesos-spain-171506

Deposits in the Sima de los Huesos site in Spain contain 28 hominid individuals, who together represent evidence of human speciation.

26/04/2022

Looking at you. While certainly not the most impressive depiction in the Coa Valley, it could be one of the most interesting.

This strange looking figure at first glance seems difficult to identify. Closer inspection reveals a characteristic depiction of the tail with three small lines (sometimes it is two). This stylistic convention is used for ibex.

The head appears to be missing from where it would typically be on a right facing figure. It seems the artist made a smaller head turned back on the body and looking directly at the viewer.

The lack of large backward sweeping horns or a prominent upward sloping, powerful neck, along with a large belly, seem to indicate it is a female, possibly even pregnant.

Lots of information to unpack already in this. The kicker is that this figure is on a rock on one side of the Coa river, located directly in front of and facing a similar figure on a rock on the other side of the river some 100m across. Additionally, the two figures appear to be the last figures of their respective sites on either side of the river.

Clearly they are related and It is as if the two are calling to each other or insinuating to the viewer the connection of the two sites.

A great example of the forethought and planning in some Paleolithic art sites. How many more details are we unaware of in the symbolic communication at these sites? Quite a bit more I would suspect.

31/03/2022

https://interestingengineering.com/a-neanderthal-workshop-in-spain-reveals-european-tools-from-43000-years-ago

Archaeologists working at Aranbaltza in Basque Country, Spain, uncovered evidence that older Neanderthal groups disappeared before Châtelperronian groups settled in the area.

31/03/2022

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10610313/Children-responsible-QUARTER-ancient-rock-art-Spain.html

Experts from Cambridge University and Spain's University of Cantabria studied 180 examples of art involving outlines of hands that were made by blowing pigment through a hollow reed or bone.

14/02/2022

DISCOUNTED TOUR!

Pricing for our June Semi-Private Tour of the Paleolithic Art And Archaeology of Northern Spain

HAS BEEN REDUCED.

14% price reduction for single occupancy

30% price reduction for double occupancy

Contact us at info@CaveArtTourSpain or via www.CaveArtTourSpain.com if you are interested.

Paleolithic Cave Rock Art and Archaeology Tours in Northern Spain led by native English speaking expert. Exceptional custom private & semi-private tours. Altamira. Atapuerca. Castillo. Tito Bustillo. Ekain. Covalanas. Hornos. Monedas. Pendo. Pindal. Candamo. Covaciella. Llonin. Garma. Sidro

14/02/2022

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/earliest-evidence-modern-humans-europe-discovered-france-rcna15230

The findings at Grotte Mandrin, a cave in the Rhône Valley about 80 miles north of Marseille, provide fresh evidence that modern humans lived alongside Neanderthals.

07/02/2022

Last Supper. Scene from 49,000 years ago. A group of 13 Neanderthal individuals was eaten, and presumably killed by another group.

Current archaeological evidence indicates it could only have been their own species. Neanderthals. Cannibalism.

It happened at a site called El Sidrón. The remains of the group eaten were washed into the cave of the same name after having been eaten somewhere above. The evidence is clear that the group that did the eating created stone tools on site to butcher the other and break open their bones to feast on them. Why? We may never know for sure but…

Archaeology and DNA tells us a lot about them. They apparently suffered from malnutrition for much of their lives and consumed a more plant based diet versus meat. Scarcity?

There were seven adults (3 male/4 female), three adolescents (2 male, 1 female), two young children (1 male/ 1?) and a baby (s*x?).

The males were all related to each other and to one of the females. The other three females were not closely related to each other or the rest of the group, suggesting males stayed with their groups, while females did not.

One of the young children and the baby were closely related to one of the females, likely mother and children.

Survival? Rivalry? Ceremonial? Desperation? Who knows… but the group that did the eating.

03/02/2022

Cantabria, an autonomous region on Spain’s north coast, has 6500 caves boasting the richest collection of rock paintings in Europe.

10/12/2021

Altamira’s Original Finds

More than 140 years later, these various artifacts (limpet shells, bone tool/weapon fragments, a perforated stone) were the nexus for a bold conclusion by a little known Spaniard from Cantabria (then known as the province of Santander).

Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola found these and other objects excavating in various entrance areas of caves in the region. A learned and cultured man, he had seen similar objects on display at the Universal Exposition in Paris. He correctly concluded that they were prehistoric, related to persons that had used the caves long ago. One of these caves was Altamira.

Sautuola explored much of the length of the cave, finding some black marks on the walls toward the end of the cave. He dismissed them as unimportant.

Some time later, while in the cave with his young daughter, she (they) discovered the Grand Ceiling of the cave. It was richly decorated with magnificent bison, horses, other figures and enigmatic symbols. He explored the rest of the cave finding more figures/symbols throughout the nearly 300m length.

Given that the original entrance of the cave was nearly sealed completely due to cave ins, there were no bison in the area, he had seen decorated portable objects with similar depictions in Paris and he had found prehistoric artifacts in the cave, he came to the conclusion that it all must be related.

In 1879 he published his findings in a brief document, asserting the same and going so far as to attribute it all, including the art, to the Paleolithic (a new term).

A magnificent discovery and the first person to make such a conclusion (if not the first to have seen Paleolithic cave art).

I wish the story had a happy ending for Marcelino. Unfortunately, the world was not ready for his bold claim. He had to suffer ridicule, slander, libel and ostracism, all of which in all likelihood led to his untimely death some years later. More than 20 years would have to pass before his bold claim was accepted by the scientific community as a whole.

The misfortune of finding one of the most magnificent caves ever found, first… too good to be true…

15/11/2021

https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/discovering-the-oldest-figural-paintings-on-earth

While working as an independent archeologist, an Indonesian grad student revised the human story.

09/11/2021

https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2021/10/04/cave-engravings-at-least-20000-years-old-discovered-in-navarra/

20,000 years old cave engravings found in Navarra

20/09/2021

Exterior Paleolithic rock art may not be as well known as the cave art, but it can be just as striking (pun intended, see below). While there are some examples at caves with art in their interior, the majority of this art in Europe is concentrated in western Iberia.

Techniques include percussion (direct and indirect), abrasion and incision.

Motives include non figurative (symbols) and figurative depictions (which could be symbols as well). Non figurative symbols include lines, arcs and more complex shapes. Horses, aurochs, goats and deer make up the bulk of the figurative art, but there are also canids (wolf/fox?), felines (lion/lynx?), rhinos and anthropomorphs.

Based on style, most agree there is a wide range of ages for this art, likely some 10,000 years, some would argue even more.

While the attribution of this art to the Paleolithic was contested for some time, the discovery of older art covered by newer Paleolithic archaeological layers at the Fariseu site of the Coa Valley in Portugal verified the authenticity of this attribution.

This particular image is of a panel from Siega Verde in Salamanca province, Spain. It has several depictions including figurative and non figurative Paleolithic art, as well as some modern aggressions distinguishable by their lack of patina.

How many and which figures can you spot?

The Coa Valley in Portugal and Siega Verde in Spain are part of the same UNESCO World Heritage designation. Spectacular sites.

20/09/2021

Just completed our SEP 2021 Paleo Arts set departure tour. Excellent precautions in place and taken by us to ensure a successful tour in the world of COVID. Great to be back to sharing these important sites with clients. Thank you!