UB takes part in a research which shows that Altamiraʼs rock art was produced during at least 20,000 years
The prestigious American publication Journal of Archaeological Science has published an online article that proves that the first phases of Palaeolithic art in Altamira Cave (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria) were done by the first Homo sapiens groups who settled Europe. They were produced during a period of at least 20,000 years (between 35,000 and 15,200 years ago), so they are older than it was thought. The research, which is planned to be included on a printed issue, also proves the great symbolic importance that Altamira held for Palaeolithic groups and the re-use and integration of previous motifs in each of the new phases in the development of the symbolic space.
The prestigious American publication Journal of Archaeological Science has published an online article that proves that the first phases of Palaeolithic art in Altamira Cave (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria) were done by the first Homo sapiens groups who settled Europe. They were produced during a period of at least 20,000 years (between 35,000 and 15,200 years ago), so they are older than it was thought. The research, which is planned to be included on a printed issue, also proves the great symbolic importance that Altamira held for Palaeolithic groups and the re-use and integration of previous motifs in each of the new phases in the development of the symbolic space.
The research has been carried out by a multidisciplinary group of chemists and archaeologists, led by the Consolidated and High-Performance Research Group on Prehistory of the University of the Basque Country and composed by the National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira, the Spanish National Research Centre for Human Evolution (CENIEH), the University of Barcelona, the University of Bristol and the University of Southampton. João Zilhão, ICREA research professor from the Prehistoric Studies and Research Seminar (SERP), is the UB researcher who participated in the study.The SERP, led by professor Josep M. Fullola, is a research group linked to the Chair of Prehistory of the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the UB.