Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Altamira Cave*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party Flag of Spain Spain
Type Cultural
Criteria i, iii
Reference 310
Region† Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1985  (9th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
† Region as classified by UNESCO.

Altamira (Spanish for 'high view') is a cave in Spain famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Asia Minor, Cyprus, all of the Aegean Islands, the Canaries A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe Africa Cave paintings are Paintings on Cave walls and ceilings and the term is used especially for those dating to Prehistoric times It is located near the town of Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain, 30 km west of the city of Santander. Santillana del Mar is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Cantabria is a Spanish province and Autonomous community with Santander as its capital city Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain between Asturias (to the west and The cave with its paintings has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16

Contents

Description

The cave is 296 meters long[1], and consists of a series of twisting passages and chambers. The main passage varies from two to six meters high. The cave was formed through collapses following early karstic phenomena in the calcerous rock of Mount Vispieres. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone

Archaeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of Upper Solutrean (c. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos The Solutrean industry is a relatively advanced flint tool-making style of the Upper Palaeolithic. 18,500 years ago) and Lower Magdalenean (between c. The Magdalenian, also spelled Magdalénien refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Palaeolithic in Western Europe. 16,500 and 14,000 years ago) artifacts. These artifacts are part of the Paleolithic Age, or Old Stone Age. The cave was occupied only by wild animals in the long period between these two occupations. The site was well positioned to take advantage of the rich wildlife that grazed in the valleys of the surrounding mountains as well as permitting the occupants to supplement their diet with food from nearby coastal areas. Around 13,000 years ago a rockfall sealed the cave's entrance preserving its contents until its eventual discovery which was caused by a nearby tree falling and disturbing the fallen rocks.

Human occupation was limited to the cave mouth although paintings were created throughout the length of the cave. The artists used charcoal and ochre or haematite to create the images, often scratching or diluting these dyes to produce variances in intensity and creating an impression of chiaroscuro. Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation Ochre or Ocher (pronounced /'əʊkə(r/ from the Greek ὠχρός yellow is a Color, usually described as golden - Yellow Hematite, also spelt hæmatite, is the Mineral form of Iron(III oxide (Fe2O3 one of several Iron oxides Chiaroscuro ( Italian for light-dark) is a term in Art for a contrast between light and dark They also exploited the natural contours in the cave walls to give a three-dimensional effect to their subjects. The Polychrome Ceiling is the most impressive feature showing a herd of bison in different poses, two horses, a large doe and a possible wild boar. A deer is a Ruminant Mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. The boar or wild boar ( Sus scrofa) is an Omnivorous, gregarious Mammal of the biological family Suidae.

This art is dated to the Magdelenean occupation and as well as animal subjects also included abstract shapes. Solutrean images include images of horses, goats and handprints created from the artist placing his hand on the cave wall in spraying paint over it leaving a negative image of his palm. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Numerous other caves in northern Spain contain Palaeolithic art but none is as advanced or well-populated as Altamira.

Discovery, excavation, scepticisms

In 1879, amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola was led by his eight-year-old daughter to discover the cave's drawings. Year 1879 ( MDCCCLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Don Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola or Marcelino de Sautuola (1831-1888 Spanish jurist and amateur Archaeologist, who owned the land where the Altamira cave was found 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. Year 1880 ( MDCCCLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The French specialists, led by Gabriel de Mortillet and Emile Cartailhac, were particularly adamant in rejecting the hypothesis of Sautuola and Piera, and their findings were loudly ridiculed at the 1880 Prehistorical Congress in Lisbon. Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet ( August 29, 1821 &ndash September 25, 1898) French Anthropologist, was born at Meylau Émile Cartailhac ( 15 February 1845 - 26 November 1921) was a French prehistorian Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. Due to the supreme artistic quality, and the exceptional state of conservation of the paintings, Sautuola was even accused of forgery. A fellow countryman maintained that the paintings had been produced by a contemporary artist, on Sautuola's orders.

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. Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting That year, Emile Cartailhac emphatically admitted his mistake in the famous article, "Mea culpa d'une sceptique", published in the journal L'Anthropologie.

Sautuola, having died 14 years earlier, did not live to enjoy the restitution of his honour.

Further excavation work on the cave was done by Hermilio Alcalde del Río in 1902-04, the German Hugo Obermaier in 1924-25 and finally by Joaquín González Echegaray in 1981. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981

Visitors and replicas

During the 1960s and 1970s, the paintings were being damaged by the damp breath of large numbers of visitors. Altamira was completely closed to the public in 1977, and reopened to limited access in 1982. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Very few visitors are allowed in per day, resulting in a three-year waiting list. A replica cave and museum were built nearby and completed in 2001 by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel, reproducing the cave and its art. Manuel Franquelo (born c 1950 is a Spanish painter and mixed media sculptor. 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. [1]

There are other replicas in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain (Madrid), in the Deutsche Museum in Munich (completed 1964), and in Japan (completed 1993). The National Archaeological Museum ( Museo Arqueológico Nacional) of Spain is in Madrid, beside the Plaza de Colón ( Columbus Square Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. The Deutsches Museum (German Museum in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest Museum of Technology and Science, with approximately Munich (München; Minga is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany.

Cultural impact

Several painters were influenced by the Altamira cave paintings. After a visit, Picasso famously exclaimed "after Altamira, all is decadence". Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso (October 25 1881 &ndash April 8 1973

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 Spanish brand of cigarettes of the 20th century, also used a Paleolithic style bison figure along with its logo. A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured

The Spanish comic character and series Altamiro de la Cueva, created in 1965, are a clear consequence of the fame of Altamira Cave. Comics (via Latin from the Greek "" kōmikos, of or pertaining to "comedy" from kōmos "revel" Altamiro de la Cueva is a Spanish Fictional character and a Comic series created in 1965 by Joan Bernet Toledano and Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. The comic series depicts the adventures of a group of prehistoric cavemen, shown as modern people, but dressed in pieces of fur, a bit like the Flintstones. The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from 1960 to 1966 on ABC.

The rock band Steely Dan wrote the song "The Caves of Altamira" for their 1976 album, The Royal Scam. Steely Dan is a American rock band centered on core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. For the Spanish cave see Altamira Cave "The Caves of Altamira" is a song from Steely Dan 's The Royal Scam. The Royal Scam is an album by Jazz rock group Steely Dan, originally released in 1976 The chorus states, "Before the fall, when they wrote it the wall, when there wasn't even any Hollywood; they heard the call and they wrote the wall, for you and me we understood. "

See also

References

  1. ^ Travel Advisory; A Modern Copy Of Ancient Masters, The New York Times, 4 November 2001

Bibliography

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic