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The palaeo cave art that hid in plain sight for 26,000 years
Nature • • world
Key Points:
- Archaeologists discovered around 280 Palaeolithic rock-art engravings, dating back approximately 26,000 years, in the Cova de la Font Major cave in Catalonia, a region previously thought to lack such ancient art.
- The cave, a popular tourist site with over 3.5 kilometers of passageways, has been open to the public for about 70 years and became a museum in the 1990s.
- Researchers found 55 animal depictions, including horses, bears, and aurochs, alongside numerous swirling lines, some of which cleverly incorporate natural wall fissures into the artwork.
- The engravings are difficult to see under direct light and require illumination from varying angles to reveal the details, which may explain why they were overlooked until the 2019 excavation.
- The discovery significantly enhances understanding of prehistoric art in northeastern Spain and highlights the exceptional quantity and complexity of the cave's ancient engravings.
