TheCave of Altamira (/ˌæltəˈmɪərə/AL-tə-MEER-ə;Spanish:Cueva de Altamira[ˈkweβaðealtaˈmiɾa]) is acave complex, located near the historic town ofSantillana del Mar inCantabria,Spain. It is renowned for prehistoriccave art featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands. The earliest paintings were applied during theUpper Paleolithic, around 36,000 years ago.^[1] The site was discovered in 1868 by Modesto Cubillas and subsequently studied byMarcelino Sanz de Sautuola.^[2]

Cave of Altamira

Cueva de Altamira
Magdalenian polychrome bison
Location	Santillana del Mar (Cantabria), Spain
Coordinates	43°22′57″N4°7′13″W / 43.38250°N 4.12028°W /43.38250; -4.12028
Type	Cave painting
History
Periods	Aurignacian–Magdalenian
Site notes
Discovered	1868
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Cave of Altamira
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii
Designated	1985(9thsession)
Part of	Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain
Reference no.	310-001
Region	Europe and North America
Buffer zone	16 ha (0.062 sq mi)
Spanish Cultural Heritage
Official name	Cueva de Altamira
Type	Non-movable
Criteria	Monument
Designated	25 April 1924
Reference no.	RI-51-0000266

Aside from the striking quality of its polychromatic art, Altamira's fame stems from the fact that its paintings were the first European cave paintings for which a prehistoric origin was suggested and promoted. Sautuola published his research with the support of Juan de Vilanova y Piera in 1880, to initial public acclaim.

However, the publication of Sanz de Sautuola's research quickly led to a bitter public controversy among experts, some of whom rejected the prehistoric origin of the paintings on the grounds that prehistoric human beings lacked sufficient ability for abstract thought. The controversy continued until 1902, by which time reports of similar findings of prehistoric paintings in the Franco-Cantabrian region had accumulated and the evidence could no longer be rejected.^[3]

Altamira is located in theFranco-Cantabrian region and in 1985 was declared aWorld Heritage Site byUNESCO as a key location of theCave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.^[4] The cave can no longer be visited, for conservation reasons, but there are replicas of a section at the site and elsewhere.

The cave is approximately 270 m (890 ft) long^[5] and consists of a series of twisting passages and chambers. The main passage varies from two to six meters in height. The cave was formed through collapses following earlykarst phenomena in the calcareous rock of Mount Vispieres.

Archaeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of artifacts from the UpperSolutrean (c. 18,500 years ago) and LowerMagdalenian (between c. 16,590 and 14,000 years ago). Both periods belong to thePaleolithic or Old Stone Age. In the two millennia between these two occupations, the cave was evidently inhabited only by wild animals.

Human occupants of the site were well-positioned to take advantage of the rich wildlife that grazed in the valleys of the surrounding mountains as well as the marine life available in nearby coastal areas. Around 13,000 years ago a rockfall sealed the cave's entrance, preserving its contents until its eventual discovery, which occurred after a nearby tree fell and disturbed the fallen rocks.

Human occupation was limited to the cave mouth, although paintings were created throughout the length of the cave. The artists usedcharcoal andochre orhematite to create the images, often diluting these pigments to produce variations in intensity and creating an impression ofchiaroscuro. They also exploited the natural contours of the cave walls to give their subjects a three-dimensional effect. The Polychrome Ceiling is the most impressive feature of the cave, depicting a herd of extinctsteppe bison (Bison priscus^[6]) in different poses, two horses, a largedoe, and possibly awild boar.

Dated to the Magdalenian occupation, these paintings include abstract shapes in addition to animal subjects. Solutrean paintings include images of horses and goats, as well as handprints that were created when artists placed their hands on the cave wall and blew pigment over them to leave a negative image. Numerous other caves in northern Spain contain Paleolithic art, but none is as complex or well-populated as Altamira.

In 1879, following its discovery a decade earlier, amateur archaeologistMarcelino Sanz de Sautuola was led by his eight-year-old daughter María to the cave and realized that the markings on the walls constituted drawings.^[7] The cave was excavated by Sautuola and archaeologist Juan Vilanova y Piera from the University of Madrid, resulting in a much acclaimed publication in 1880 which interpreted the paintings as Paleolithic in origin. The French specialists, led byGabriel de Mortillet andÉmile Cartailhac, were particularly adamant in rejecting the hypothesis of Sautuola and Piera, whose findings were loudly ridiculed at the 1880 Prehistorical Congress inLisbon.

Due to the high artistic quality, and the exceptional state of conservation of the paintings, Sautuola was accused of forgery, as he was unable to answer why there were no soot (smoke) marks on the walls and ceilings of the cave. A fellow countryman maintained that the paintings had been produced by a contemporary artist, on Sautuola's orders. Later, Sautuola found out the artist could have used marrow fat as oil for the lamp, producing much less soot than any other combustibles.

It was not until 1902, when several other findings of prehistoric paintings had served to render the hypothesis of the extreme antiquity of the Altamira paintings less offensive, that the scientific society retracted their opposition to the Spaniards. That year, Cartailhac emphatically admitted his mistake in the famous article, "Mea culpa d'un sceptique", published in the journalL'Anthropologie.^[8] Sautuola, having died 14 years earlier, did not live to witness his rehabilitation.

Cartailhac went on to write a pair of books about the cave, assisted byHenri Breuil's hand-drawn reproductions of the paintings. Breuil was both a Catholic priest and a competent draughtsman, whose connection with the cave is discussed in the first chapter ofG. K. Chesterton's book,The Everlasting Man.

Further excavation work on the cave was done byHermilio Alcalde del Río between 1902 and 1904, the GermanHugo Obermaier between 1924 and 1925 and finally byJoaquín González Echegaray in 1968.

There is no scientific agreement on the dating of the archeological artifacts found in the cave, nor the drawings and paintings, and scientists continue to evaluate the age of the cave art at Altamira.

In 2008, researchers usinguranium-thorium dating found that the paintings were completed over a period of up to 20,000 years rather than during a comparatively brief period.^[9]

A later study published in 2012 based on data obtained from further uranium-thorium dating research, dated some paintings in several caves in North Spain, including some of the claviform signs in the "Gran sala" of Altamira. The oldest sign found, a "large red claviform-like symbol ofTecho de los Polícromos", was dated to36.16±0.61 ka (corrected), i.e. still well within theAurignacian. A red dotted outline horse, also in theTecho de los Polícromos chamber, was dated to22.11±0.13 ka (beginningSolutrean), establishing that the paintings span a period of more than 10,000 years.^[1]

During the 1970s and 2000s, the paintings were being damaged by thecarbon dioxide andwater vapour in the breath of the large number of visitors. Altamira was completely closed to the public in 1977, and reopened to limited access in 1982. Very few visitors were allowed in per day, resulting in a three-year waiting list. After green mould began to appear on some paintings in 2002, the caves were closed to public access.^[10]

Areplica cave and museum were built nearby and completed in 2001 byManuel Franquelo andSven Nebel, reproducing the cave and its art. The replica allows a more comfortable view of the polychrome paintings of the main hall of the cave, as well as a selection of minor works. It also includes some sculptures of human faces that are not visitable in the real cave.^[7]

As well as the adjacentNational Museum and Research Center of Altamira there are reproductions in theNational Archaeological Museum of Spain (Madrid), in theDeutsches Museum inMunich (completed 1964) and in Japan (completed 1993).

During 2010 there were plans to reopen access to the cave towards the end of that year.^[11] In December 2010, however, the Spanish Ministry of Culture decided that the cave would remain closed to the public.^[12] This decision was based on advice from a group of experts who had found that the conservation conditions inside the cave had become much more stable since the closure.

Some of the polychrome paintings at Altamira Cave are well known in Spanish popular culture. The logo used by the autonomous government of Cantabria to promote tourism to the region is based on one of the bisons in this cave.Bisonte (Spanish for "bison"), a Spanishcigarette brand of the 20th century, also used a Paleolithic style bison figure along with its logo.

The Spanishcomic seriesAltamiro de la Cueva, created in 1965, is named for the Altamira Cave. The comic series depicts the adventures of a group of prehistoric cavemen, shown as modern people, but dressed in pieces of fur, similarly tothe Flintstones.

The song "The Caves of Altamira" appears on the 1976 albumThe Royal Scam by jazz-rock bandSteely Dan, later covered by soul group Perri.

The mid-20th-century modern dinnerware line Primitive, designed by Viktor Schreckengost for the American pottery companySalem China, was based on the bison, deer, and stick figure hunters depicted in the Altamira cave paintings.

The iconic bison image has been used for the cover of the poetry collectionSongs for the Devil and Death by Scottish authorHal Duncan.^[13]

The protagonist in Satyajit Ray's filmAgantuk was inspired by the charging Bison painting to leave his home and study tribal people.

In 2007, the caves were selected as one of the12 Treasures of Spain, a contest conducted by broadcastersAntena 3 andCOPE.^[14]

In 2016, British DirectorHugh Hudson released the filmAltamira (calledFinding Altamira outside Spain) about the discovery of the caves, starringAntonio Banderas and with music byMark Knopfler released on the soundtrack albumAltamira.^[15]

• 7742 Altamira, asteroid named after the cave
• Art of the Upper Paleolithic
• Chauvet Cave
• Caves in Cantabria
• List of Stone Age art
• Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain

• Curtis, Gregory.The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006 (hardcover,ISBN 1-4000-4348-4)).
• Guthrie, R. Dale.The Nature of Prehistoric Art. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006 (hardcover,ISBN 0-226-31126-0).
• McNeill, William H."Secrets of the Cave Paintings",The New York Review of Books, Vol. 53, No. 16, October 19, 2006.
• Pike, A. W. G.; Hoffmann, D. L.; Garcia-Diez, M.; Pettitt, P. B.; Alcolea, J.; De Balbin, R.; Gonzalez-Sainz, C.; de las Heras, C.; Lasheras, J. A.; Montes, R.; Zilhao, J. (14 June 2012). "U-Series Dating of Paleolithic Art in 11 Caves in Spain".Science.336 (6087):1409–1413.Bibcode:2012Sci...336.1409P.doi:10.1126/science.1219957.PMID 22700921.S2CID 7807664.
• Sustainable tourism and social value at World Heritage Sites: Towards a conservation plan for Altamira, Spain. Annals of Tourism Research. Eva Parga-Dans & Pablo Alonso González.
• The Altamira controversy: Assessing the economic impact of a world heritage site for planning and tourism management. Journal of Cultural Heritage. Eva Parga-Dans & Pablo Alonso González.
• The social value of heritage: Balancing the promotion-preservation relationship in the Altamira World Heritage Site, Spain. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management. Eva Parga-Dans, Pablo Alonso González & Raimundo Otero-Enríquez.

• Altamira Cave National Museum(in Spanish and English)
• The Spanish Cave of Altamira opens – with politics Bradshaw Foundation Article
• "Les peintures préhistoriques de la grotte d’Altamira", Cartailhac and Breuil founding article (1903), online and analyzed onBibNum [click 'à télécharger' for English version]
• Human Timeline (Interactive) –Smithsonian,National Museum of Natural History (August 2016)