Archaeologists have documented 280 Stone Age engravings, including 55 animal figures, in a long-visited cave in Catalonia, revealing a surprisingly rich Ice Age art tradition in northeastern Iberia.
The markings were identified in 2019 in Cova de la Font Major, beneath the town of Espluga de Francolí. Researchers were examining a gallery where ancient carvings were mixed with modern graffiti. The animals include horses, deer, wild cattle, goats and a rare bear.
Other designs include abstract shapes, parallel lines and loops. People have visited the cave since at least the 12th century. It has been open to tourists since 1957.
A museum was established there in 1993. The engravings were easy to miss. Researchers say they can be hard to see when light shines directly on them.
The cave’s uneven walls were once considered unsuitable for prehistoric art. The study’s authors place many figures in periods before the Magdalenian, based on comparisons of their style. They do not give an exact date for every engraving.
The newly documented collection is the third-largest known collection of Stone Age cave art on the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula. Until recently, only two such figures were known in Catalonia. The researchers say the artwork differs from the neighboring Franco-Cantabrian tradition, pointing to a distinct regional style.
They say apparent gaps in the archaeological record may reflect art that researchers have overlooked. Those gaps may not mean that people in the past did not create art.