Posted on 06/06/2022 10:38:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Cueva de Ardales is a hugely important Paleolithic site in Malaga, Spain, owing to its rich inventory of rock art. According to new research, Neanderthals entered this cave in the Middle Paleolithic, over 65,000 years ago and left traces of symbolic practices on the cave walls; thereafter the cave was repeatedly visited by Homo sapiens all the way to the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic period.
Cueva de Ardales is the most outstanding cave with Paleolithic rock art in southern Iberia.
The cave is located near the village of Ardales, in a mountain know as Cerro de la Calinoria, at 565 m above sea level and at about 50 km north of the Mediterranean coast.
It was discovered in 1821 after an earthquake exposed a cave entrance previously sealed by deposits.
Cueva de Ardales contains over 1,000 paintings and engravings found on a wide variety of surfaces including walls, ceilings, ground rocks, speleothems and collapsed blocks.
They are mainly dated to the Upper Paleolithic, although the recent dating of carbonate crusts on abstract red depictions revealed that some of them are of Neanderthal authorship...
A combination of radiometric dating and analysis of remains and artifacts within the cave provide evidence that the site’s first occupants were likely Neanderthals over 65,000 years ago...
Human remains indicate the use of the cave as a burial place in the Holocene, but evidence of domestic activities is extremely poor, suggesting humans were not living in the cave.
(Excerpt) Read more at sci-news.com ...
A cave man art museum
Interesting, plus, there’s other stuff along the Loire.
https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/holiday-ideas/visiting-the-troglodyte-caves-of-the-loire-valley/
Love the Loire Valley my father in law is from there. Great wine.
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