Researchers Unveil Massive Ice Age Rock Art Cache in Catalonia After Decades of Overlooked Artifacts
Archaeologists identify hundreds of prehistoric engravings in Catalan caves, revealing the third-largest Ice Age art site in Mediterranean Iberia.
POLICY WIRE — Catalonia, Spain — A team of archaeologists has revealed a significant trove of prehistoric art, identifying hundreds of Ice Age engravings that had existed openly in Catalonia for decades without being recognized as such.
This substantial collection represents the third-largest assemblage of Ice Age cave art ever identified in the Mediterranean region of Iberia.
The discovery is particularly striking because the specific region had previously been considered to lack any notable rock art traditions.
Human activity at the Cova de la Font Major in Catalonia extends back to the 12th century AD, meaning people have visited the site for centuries without identifying the ancient markings.
Once the researchers confirmed the authenticity of the engravings as prehistoric, they utilized technical, stylistic, and thematic comparisons to well-dated art assemblages to determine their chronological age.
This finding exposes a completely new rock art tradition and fundamentally alters the current understanding of Paleolithic European art.
Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)
