Cave of El Castillo

The Cueva de El Castillo at Puente Viesgo in Spanish Cantabria is famous for its cave paintings 40,000 years old (the oldest in the world) famous. It belongs to the Monte Castillo cave complex.

The entrance was discovered in 1903 by Hermilio Alcalde del Río ( 1866-1947 ), shortly after the exposure began. Also, the German Hugo Obermaier took from 1909 at several excavation campaigns in part. It was not until 2012, the paintings were the earliest Upper Paleolithic associated and recognized as probably the oldest works of art in Europe, older than the Chauvet cave. Even older are seen globally only decorated eggshells in Africa.

Discovered in the cave about 25 handprints look like graffiti. They were probably formed by laying a hand on the cave wall pigment and blew it. It also applies after the new dating is still considered likely that the art of modern humans originated, but for these imprints the last Neanderthals are a vague possibility. There are also more sophisticated representations of animals, but they are more recent.

2008, it was awarded / protected by UNESCO as part of the Paleolithic cave paintings in northern Spain, its age but still misjudged. Dated 2012, a team led by Alistair Pike of the University of Bristol 50 Stone Age art in 11 northern Spanish caves new. They examined the travertine using the uranium -thorium method to circumvent problems of radiocarbon ( the painting was formerly only 13,000 years old classified ). Several Spanish caves were classified as older, the El Castillo is still older than the famous cave of Altamira.