Archaeologists from a British university have discovered a major Paleolithic cave art site on the east coast of Spain, featuring depictions of horses, deer and wild bulls.
More than 100 ancient paintings and engravings thought to be at least 24,000 years old were found in the 500-metre-deep cave Cova Dones, or Cueva Dones, in Millares, near Valencia.
Although the site was well-known by locals and hikers, the paintings remained undiscovered until the find by the researchers from the universities of Zaragoza and Alicante.
They are affiliated with the University of Southampton.
Aitor Ruiz-Redondo, senior lecturer of prehistory at Zaragoza and Southampton, said.
“When we saw the first painted auroch (extinct wild bull), we immediately acknowledged it was important.
“Although Spain is the country with the largest number of Paleolithic cave art sites, most of them are concentrated in northern Spain.
“Eastern Iberia is an area where few of these sites have been documented so far.”
The scientists have documented more than 100 motifs for their research, which has been published in the journal Antiquity, with at least 19 confirmed animal representations, many having unusually been made using clay.
They believed that the discovery was first made in June 2021, which was the most important Paleolithic cave art site to have been found in the region.
It has the greatest number of motifs discovered in Europe since Atxurra (Bizkaia) in 2015.
Ruiz-Redondo said: “animals and signs are depicted simply by dragging the fingers and palms covered with clay on the walls.”
The researchers believed that more art would be found in the caves as their investigations continue.
