According to Phys.org, the 500-meter-long cave near Valencia is a popular destination for locals, hikers, and adventurers. Despite this, until scientists revealed this amazing discovery in June 2021, the existence of Palaeolithic artwork went unnoticed. The results were released in the journal “Antiquity.”
In the Spanish cave site known as “Cova Dones” or “Cueva Dones,” archaeologists have found a significant discovery of Paleolithic cave art.
One could argue that this find, which includes more than 100 prehistoric paintings and engravings estimated to be at least 24,000 years old, is among the most significant ones made along Europe’s Eastern Iberian Coast.
Astonishing discovery
According to Phys.org, the 500-meter-long cave near Valencia is a popular destination for locals, hikers, and adventurers. Despite this, until scientists revealed this amazing discovery in June 2021, the existence of Palaeolithic artwork went unnoticed. The results were released in the journal “Antiquity.”
“When we first saw the painted auroch, an extinct wild bull, we knew it was significant. Despite having the most sites for Palaeolithic cave art, Spain is the country with the greatest concentration. Few of these sites have been discovered in Eastern Iberia, according to Dr. Aitor Ruiz-Redondo, a senior lecturer in prehistory at the University of Zaragoza and a research associate at the University of Southampton.
The actual “shock” of understanding its significance, he continued, “came long after the first discovery.”
“Once we started the proper systematic survey, we realized we were dealing with a major cave art site, similar to those that can be found elsewhere in Cantabrian Spain, southern France, or Andalusia but that totally lack in this territory,” the author writes.
The finding
More than a hundred themes in Cova Dones were painstakingly documented by the research team, which was led by Dr. Ruiz-Redondo, Dr. Virginia Barciela-González, Senior Lecturer of Prehistory at the University of Alicante, and Dr. Ximo Martorell-Briz, an affiliate researcher at the University of Alicante.
According to the research summary posted on the University of Cambridge website, the team has “identified more than 110 graphic units, including at least 19 zoomorphic representations, located in three different zones of the cave.”
Seven horses, seven hinds (female red deer), two aurochs, a stag, and two unidentified creatures are among the animals shown. Conventional signs (rectangles, meanders), numerous panels of “macaroni” (‘flutings’ formed with either fingers or tools dragged across a soft surface), isolated lines, and poorly preserved unidentifiable paintings make up the remainder of the artwork.
Not only is there a large number of ancient artworks at this site, but also a wide range of techniques were employed in their creation. Surprisingly, the majority of the artworks were made with clay.
The humid cave climate allowed the paintings to dry slowly, conserving them over thousands of years. The ancient artists would drag their fingers and palms covered in clay over the cave walls. Although clay painting is a well-known art medium in Palaeolithic art, there aren’t many examples of it being used or preserved.
There is still plenty to investigate and record inside the cave, and the research is still in its early phases. In the upcoming years, additional art should be found in the caverns, according to scientists’ predictions.