Cave of Altamira

The Cave of Altamira is an archaeological site in northern Spain that features one of the best-preserved examples of Paleolithic cave art. The cave was occupied by humans for thousands of years, and the artwork within it is believed to have been created between 15,000 and 34,000 years ago. The images primarily feature animals such as bison, horses, and boars painted in striking brown, red, and black colors. The site was rediscovered in the late nineteenth century and was originally thought to have been a fake. After its authenticity was proven, the cave became a tourist attraction until it was discovered that visitors were inadvertently damaging the images. The site was closed to the public several times and sporadically reopened on a limited basis into the twenty-first century.

Background

The oldest objects thought to be human works of art date back hundreds of thousands of years. Some archeologists believe rough-hewn stone objects resembling fertility figures were created between 230,000 and 700,000 years ago; however, other experts think the objects were made by natural processes and not by human hands. Markings found on a cave wall in India were made by humans about 290,000 years ago, but they may have been intended for a functional purpose and not as works of art. Some of the earliest definitive art dates back to about 100,000 years ago. Clay-covered shells were worn as jewelry in Morocco about 80,000 years ago, while colored stones and shells found in a South African cave are estimated to be about 70,000 years old. Archaeologists have also discovered rock carvings called petroglyphs dating back about 60,000 years.

Near the end of the Paleolithic period, humans began painting cave walls with bright-colored mineral pigments. One of the oldest known examples is a mural of handprints in Spain's Cave of El Castillo, dating from 35,000 to 40,000 years ago. Similar handprint art was left behind in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi about 39,000 years ago. The style proliferated for thousands of years in caves across modern-day Europe, Africa, and Asia. Archeologists have discovered about 350 examples of Paleolithic cave art, many of them in a region of southern France and northern Spain. Animals were the main subjects depicted in cave art, reflecting the hunting-based societies of ancient humans. The Cave of Altamira and the Lascaux Cave in France contain some of the most well-preserved examples of Paleolithic art. Lascaux, which is estimated to have been painted between 15,000 and 17,000 years ago, features hundreds of animal images and is one of the few cave art sites to depict human figures.

Overview

The Cave of Altamira is located near the village of Santillana del Mar in the Cantabria region of northern Spain. Its modern discovery occurred in 1868 when a local hunter found the cave while searching for his lost dog. He reported his find to an amateur archeologist and nobleman named Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola. Sautuola first visited the cave in 1875 and returned in 1879 with his daughter, Maria, who discovered the paintings on the back walls of the cave. Sautuola published the finding in a scholarly journal, but the paintings were of such high quality and so well-preserved that many experts believed them to be a hoax. It was not until 1902, fourteen years after Sautuola's death, that the scientific community confirmed the prehistoric origins of the paintings.

The Cave of Altamira is about 886 feet (270 meters) long and divided into several sections. Humans are believed to have lived in the cave from about 35,000 to 14,000 years ago. While they primarily resided in a larger area at the front of the cave, most of the artwork is found in other sections farther back. The largest gallery is a 60-foot (18-meter) chamber located off the main entrance. Known as the Chamber of Paintings or Chamber of the Frescoes, the gallery's low ceiling is covered with about 100 highly detailed images of animals painted in bright red, brown, yellow, and black. The pigments were made from minerals and other natural substances such as iron, manganese, charcoal, and even animal blood. Most of the paintings are of bison, but the largest is a red deer slightly more than seven feet long. Other images in the hall include boars, horses, and human-animal hybrid figures. The artists used the natural shape and contour of the cave to make the depictions appear more realistic, right down to highly detailed fur textures. The chamber's artwork has earned it the nickname the Sistine Chapel of Prehistoric Art, and even impressed famed twentieth-century artist Pablo Picasso.

A smaller chamber behind the main hall contains a number of animal figures painted with black pigment. The deepest part of the cave is a narrow passageway dotted with geometric signs and symbols. Archeologists have dated many of the images in the cave from about 14,000 to 22,000 years ago; however, some have been estimated to be about 34,000 years old. Some archaeologists believe some images were layered on older artwork and painted over a number of times. From the study of Altamira and other sites, some scholars theorize the artwork was created for ceremonial or religious reasons, perhaps as a way to ensure or record a successful hunt.

For much of the twentieth century, the Cave of Altamira was a popular tourist destination, attracting thousands of visitors a year. Humidity, temperature variations, and carbon dioxide given off by humans began to cause damaging mold to form in the cave, prompting the site to be closed in 1979. It reopened in 1982 and allowed a limited number of visitors per year but closed again in 2002. In the early twenty-first century, the cave was briefly reopened, with a select group of visitors chosen by lottery allowed to view the artwork. By the mid-2020s, the cave was only open to a small group of people each year. Five people each week were allowed to enter the cave. However, one had to submit a request to be on a waiting list to be chosen. This waiting list closed in 2022. Despite the restrictions placed on the cave, Altamira remained a busy tourist attraction. While most cannot enter the cave, tourists can visit a nearby museum that features an exact replica of the main hall of paintings. In 1985, the cave was named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Bibliography

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Clottes, Jean. What Is Paleolithic Art?: Cave Paintings and the Dawn of Human Creativity. Translated by Oliver Y. Martin and Robert D. Martin, University of Chicago Press, 2016.

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Kassam, Ashifa. "Altamira Cave Paintings to Be Opened to the Public Once Again." Guardian, 26 Feb. 2014, www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/26/altamira-cave-paintings-open-public-spain-cantabria. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Minder, Raphael. "Back to the Cave of Altamira in Spain, Still Controversial." New York Times, 30 July 2014, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/arts/international/back-to-the-cave-of-altamira-in-spain-still-controversial.html?‗r=1. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.