Altamira

An extensive cave system in the Cantabrian Mountains near Santander in northern Spain. Between 1875 and 1879 Don Marcelino de Sautuola explored the 280m deep caves and discovered paintings on the walls. He believed them to be Palaeolithic in date because of their style and the flintwork and faunal remains found in the entrance to the caves. It took a while for this to be accepted, but the works are now recognized as being late Solutrean and early Magdalenian in date, broadly 13 000 to 11 500 bc. The motifs and figures represented include polychrome images of bison, masks, and quadrilateral signs of unknown meaning. Some of the figured animals are large, up to 2m across, the most spectacular group being on the ceiling of a low hall near the entrance which depicts bison, deer, and horses.

[Rep.: H. Breuil and H. Obermaier, 1935, The cave of Altamira at Santilana der Mar, Spain. Madrid: El Viso]