Cueva Dones: Unveiling the Largest Paleolithic Rock Art Site in Eastern Iberia

An archaeological jewel, Cueva Dones is home to one of the most important rock art sites in Europe (Courtesy: Aitor Ruiz-Redondo from the University of Zaragoza-IUCA, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz, both from the University of Alicante)

Traditionally, the distribution of Pleistocene rock art has centered on the Franco-Cantabrian region with a periphery that includes areas of southern Spain and Italy. More than 70 percent of known Paleolithic rock art sites are found in this area. However, in recent years discoveries have been made throughout Europe and Asia. These findings outside the Franco-Cantabrian space are relevant to improve knowledge of Paleolithic symbolism.

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On the eastern Iberian coast the situation is paradoxical. Although this area is home to the most important Pleistocene movable art site in terms of decorated elements, Paleolithic rock art sites are scarce: nine are reliably identified as Pleistocene, with up to 21 possible in total.

Now, archaeologists Aitor Ruiz-Redondo from the University of Zaragoza-IUCA, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz, both from the University of Alicante, discover the existence of Paleolithic paintings in Cueva Dones. the british magazine Antiquity, belonging to the University of Cambridge, has just published the characteristics and relevance of this site. The discovery occurred in a cave frequently visited by hikers, whose Paleolithic motifs had gone unnoticed.

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Since the discovery of the Paleolithic rock art of Altamira in 1879, an enclave of this importance had not been found on the Mediterranean coast. Researchers from the universities of Zaragoza and Alicante have now discovered the largest site of Paleolithic rock art in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, with more than 100 paintings and engravings dating back almost 24,000 years in the Dones Cave or Cova Dones, in the municipality of Millares. , in Valencia.

Dones Cave, the epicenter of a revolutionary discovery of Paleolithic rock art (Courtesy: Aitor Ruiz-Redondo from the University of Zaragoza-IUCA, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz, both from the University of Alicante)

The Dones Cave is a well-known place in the area, usually frequented by speleologists, and of which there have been reports of visitors since the 18th century. However, the existence of Paleolithic paintings in the cavity was unknown until its discovery in 2021 by archaeologists and specialists in Prehistoric Art, Aitor Ruiz-Redondo (University of Zaragoza-IUCA), main author of the article, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz (University of Alicante). Between the three of them they have discovered more than thirty new groups of rock art in the last two decades in different European regions.

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The number of rock motifs and the variety of techniques used in them make this site probably the most important Paleolithic complex on the eastern Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Since the discovery of Paleolithic rock art (Altamira, 1879), an enclave of this importance had not been found in said territory.

Aitor Ruiz-Redondo, professor of Prehistory at the University of Zaragoza, researcher at the University Institute of Environmental Sciences of Aragon (IUCA-Unizar) and associate researcher at the University of Southampton (United Kingdom), commented: “When we saw the first painted aurochs (extinct wild bull), we immediately recognized that it was important. Although Spain is the country with the largest number of Paleolithic rock art sites, most of them are concentrated in the north of Spain. “The east of the Peninsula is an area where few of these sites have been documented so far.”

Paintings and engravings 24,000 years old, testimony of the prehistoric past on the eastern Iberian coast (Courtesy: Aitor Ruiz-Redondo from the University of Zaragoza-IUCA, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz, both from the University of Alicante)

However, the real impact of realizing its importance came long after the first discovery. “Once we began the systematic study, we realized that we were facing an important site of Paleolithic rock art due to its number and variety of motifs, such as those that can be found in the core areas of the Cantabrian Sea, the south of France or Andalusia, but that They are totally missing in this territory,” he continued.

In Cueva Dones, more than a hundred graphic units (rock motifs) have been documented so far, made by painting, simple engraving and scraping. This makes the site, due to the number of reasons and variety of techniques, the most important Paleolithic complex on the eastern Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, it is probably the cave with Paleolithic art with the largest number of motifs discovered in Europe since Atxurra (Bizkaia), in 2015. Unlike the latter, which is located in the Cantabrian region (one of the places with the highest density of paleolithic complexes in the world), Cueva Dones is located in an area where this type of sites are not traditionally abundant.

In almost 150 years since the discovery of Paleolithic rock art (Altamira in 1879), an enclave of this importance had not been found in the combined territories of Catalonia, Comunitat Valenciana and Murcia. The scarcity of these large assemblages was paradoxical considering the existence of the Parpalló Cave in Valencia, which has the largest collection of decorated Paleolithic plaquettes in the world.

A journey through time, the paintings of Cueva Dones transport us to the Pleistocene (Courtesy: Aitor Ruiz-Redondo from the University of Zaragoza-IUCA, Virginia Barciela González and Ximo Martorell Briz, both from the University of Alicante)

The study, published in the Project Gallery of the British magazine Antiquity, consists of a preliminary analysis of the characteristics and relevance of the site in the context of European Paleolithic Art. This includes at least 19 confirmed animal representations (deer, horses, aurochs and a deer) and stands out, in addition to its number of motifs and geographical location, for a technical peculiarity: most of the paintings have been made with clay.

Although this technique is known in Paleolithic art, examples of its use are scarce in the global count, while in Cueva Dones it is the majority technique. Despite the simplicity of execution, the antiquity of these clay paintings is supported, in addition to their style (which includes clear Paleolithic conventions), by the presence of thick stalagmitic crusts that cover several of them.

Combining the analysis of different indirect evidence, the authors estimate that the complex could be at least 24,000 years old. “Animals and signs were depicted simply by dragging clay-covered fingers and palms over the walls. The humid environment of the cave did the rest: the paintings dried slowly, preventing parts of the clay from flaking and falling, while other parts were covered by layers of calcite, which preserved them until today,” explains Aitor Ruiz. Round.

The project, led by the authors of the publication, is in a preliminary phase. In the cavity, almost 500 m long, there are still many areas to be prospected and panels to be exhaustively documented, so the discovery of new motifs is expected in the coming years by the multidisciplinary team carrying out the research.

2023-09-13 12:57:13
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