14,500-Year-Old Prehistoric Cave Paintings Discovered in Spain

Spain boasts of some of the most spectacular cave paintings in the world, including those in the Altamira Caves. The recent cave paintings discovery however sparked a lot of interest mostly due to their large number and most importantly, variety and quality.

In 2014, Diego Garate, a Spanish archaeologist and a cave explorer, Inaki Intxaurbe, discovered a rare set of cave paintings in the Atxurra cave situated in northern Spain. At least 70 cave paintings were discovered- which is a significantly large number compared to previous discoveries.

Sources say that the cave was first discovered in 1929 and explored between 1934-1935, but it wasn’t until 2014 when the archaeologist and his partner discovered the paintings which were estimated to be between 12, 500- 14, 500-year-old. These were more recent creations compared to the 40, 000-year-old paintings discovered on the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi.

One of the reasons for their late discovery is that they are located nearly 1000-feet inside, which is a bit too difficult and dangerous to explore. Because of this, public access to the cave has been prohibited. Also, the paintings are hardly visible, especially to the untrained eye- which explains why it took too long for anyone to see them.

The Rare Findings

The cave paintings, which are estimated to have been created in the Upper Paleolithic era (12500-14500 –years), feature the famous bison, buffalo, horses, deer, goats, as well as hunting scenes. The archaeologist made an interesting discovery on one of the buffalo paintings, claiming that it’s not clear why there were more lances stuck in it compared to other hunting drawings- it had about 20 lances while most drawings have only 4 or 5.

Diego and Inaki found some interesting evidence regarding their creation- the engravings and paintings may have contained black coal dust, and there was a high possibility they were made with flint tools. According to Jose Yravedra, a professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, “No one expected a discovery of this magnitude. There are a lot of caves with drawings, but only a few have this much art and this much variety and quality.”

Experts point out that although it’s a little bit too early to determine whether the Atxurra cave paintings deserve a recognition as one of Spain’s most important prehistoric cave art site, it looks very promising.

Sanctuary Cave Art Site

Because of its hidden location, a large number of engravings and paintings as well as great variety and quality of the drawings, the must have been classified as a “sanctuary” or a “very special” Paleolithic meeting ritual place, just like those at Altamira and Lascaux  in France.

Ancient cave paintings are such incredible sights to behold and the Spain’s Atxurra paintings are no exception. Sadly, preserving such exceptional works for future generations has proven to be a challenge due to their fragile nature.

All the same, these paintings have revealed a lot about the lives of our ancient ancestors.

Ice Cave: Stunningly Beautiful but Potentially Dangerous

If you’ve never visited an ice cave before, a simple web image search will give you loads of beautiful caves from all over the world. They are amazing wonders of nature.

Ice caves happen to be some of the most popular tourist attractions in the world and provide tourists with an interesting interactive experience.

How are Ice Caves are Formed

Ice caves are basically types of natural caves that contain significant amounts of year-round ice (perennial ice). For an ice cave to form, at least a portion of the cave must have a temperature below 0 degrees Celsius all year round, and that water must have traveled into the ice cave’s coldest zones.

Ice caves can occur as static ice caves or dynamic/cyclical ice caves. Different types of ice caves form depending on temperature mechanisms like cold traps, evaporative cooling, thermally insulated surface, and permafrost.

The Dangers of Ice Caves

As fascinating as they are, ice caves are very dangerous. They can collapse anytime. Besides being dangerous, ice caves are difficult to navigate, which further increases the risk.

In 2015, the Big Four Ice Caves collapsed, killing one person and injuring five. The Big Four is a mountain located in the Cascade Range of Washington. The snowfield in this mountain appears in the shape of the numeral four, hence the name.

The Big Four ice caves situated on the north face of the mountain is not entirely made of pure ice. They are rather formed when avalanches fill the gully with snow, and the snow is sheltered from direct sunlight by the mountain all year round.

The ice caves are then gradually expanded by an inrush of warm air under the snow and also get carved out by melted water flow, which makes the snow even heavier and thus more prone to collapse.

Over time, the roof of the caves thin and weaken, increasing the risk of cave roof collapsing or the formation of a snow bridge. The risk is said to be highest especially near the entrance since ice here is much thinner compared to the inside.

According to Adrienne Hall, a manager at the Verlot Ranger Station near the Big Four mountain, heatwaves especially during summer make the ice caves even more dangerous to navigate.

The Big Four Ice Caves are not the only dangerous ice caves. The risk is widespread as many caves around the world have resulted in numerous accidents too.

Tourists visiting these attraction sites should trend carefully as ice collapse isn’t the only risk- falling rocks or boulders are too. Even when the caves seem stable from the inside and outside, they are still unsafe to venture further.

Even during summer, there are ice caves that stay frozen all through the season. However, this doesn’t make them any less dangerous. They tend to become highly vulnerable especially if the conditions around them are disrupted. Even worse, many caves are already being lost as a result of climate change, making them even more dangerous to explore.