Spanish archaeologists discover cave art to rival country's best

[inanna]

Source: Associated Press

Friday 27 May 2016 17.50 BST

Spanish archaeologists say they have discovered an exceptional set of Paleolithic-era cave drawings that could rank among the best in a country that already boasts some of the world’s most important cave art.

Chief site archaeologist Diego Garate said that an estimated 70 drawings were found on ledges 300m (1,000 ft) underground in the Atxurra cave in the northern Basque region. He described the site as being in “the Champions League” of cave art and among the top 10 sites in Europe. The engravings and paintings feature horses, buffalo, goats and deer, dating back 12,500-14,500 years.

But Garate said access to the area was so difficult and dangerous that it was unlikely to be open to the public.

The cave was discovered in 1929 and first explored in 1934-35, but it was not until 2014, when Garate and his team resumed their investigations, that the drawings were discovered.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/27/spanish-archaeologists-discover-cave-art-axturra-paleolithic

[alfredo]

1. Excellent

[niyad]

2. this, of course, is impossible, since the earth is only 6,000 years old.

[olddad56]

4. that earth is several billion years old.

[niyad]

5. you are, of course, familiar with young earth creationists.

[elljay]

10. I'm sure

the discovery of the paintings of people riding dinosaurs will come soon. That part of the cave was probably under water from The Flood.

[niyad]

15. there was a diarama in ken ham's creation museum of a dinosaur, with a saddle (kind of like dino)

in a tropical setting, with a man and woman, both dressed in victorian clothing. hysterically funny.

these idiots apparently think that the "flintstones" was a documentary.

[packman]

3. I can see cave women (?) nagging cave man

Dammit, Urg, get off your ass and paint that crappy wall with something - horses, antelopes, something nice

[left-of-center2012]

6. I love these kinds of stories

Thanks for posting!

[annabanana]

7. a pic from article

[Jarqui]

8. My daughter is in Spain on a dig right now

but near Barcelona - not Madrid.

fun article for me to forward

[tblue37]

9. In 1971 I got to see the Alta Mira cave paintings up close, before they cut off public access

because people's breath was causing damage. Pictures don't do them justice.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Don't let the Bundy gang anywhere near them.

Those idiots drew dicks on the petroglyphs at the site in Oregon.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Oh, christ. It really figures. Had no idea. How can that be repaired?

They're determined to show the world they're not fit to live.

They'll leave the world much worse than it was when they arrived.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. Those guys were just pigs.

Thete are probably people who know own how to restore damaged petroglyphs. Like there are people who restore damaged paintings.

[Judi Lynn]

13. Beautiful! It's good to see they will be protecting them! Thank you. n/t