Spain · UNESCO World Cultural Heritage series, 6th issue, Cave of Altamira

The cave is located near Santillana del Mar in northern Spain. Its paintings and engravings were created during the Paleolithic. The best-known animal depictions are predominantly attributed to the Magdalenian, a late phase of the Upper Paleolithic. However, studies show that the cave was used and decorated over a long period. In addition to bison, the depictions include horses, hinds, wild boar, hand stencils and abstract forms.

The prehistoric artists incorporated irregularities and natural bulges in the rock into the bodies of the animals. They used charcoal and mineral pigments such as ochre primarily for the paintings. Lines, areas of colour and shading created a three-dimensional effect. Altamira is therefore an important testimony to the technical abilities and worldview of Stone Age hunter-gatherer groups. The religious, social or ritual functions of the images cannot be determined with certainty.

In the 19th century, the landowner and amateur researcher Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola studied the cave. His daughter María drew his attention to the paintings on the ceiling. Sautuola’s assumption that they dated from the Paleolithic was initially rejected. Only after further comparable cave paintings had been discovered in France did their recognition as prehistoric art become established at the beginning of the 20th century. Altamira thus changed the prevailing view of the intellectual and artistic abilities of early humans.

The sensitive paintings suffered from changes in temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels, which were also caused by visitor traffic. Access to the original cave was therefore severely restricted. A detailed reconstruction of central cave areas is located in the neighbouring museum.

The issue belongs to a Spanish coin series that has featured UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country annually since 2010. Altamira was therefore not selected because of a specific anniversary, but as part of this ongoing representation of Spanish World Heritage Sites. Since 2008, the UNESCO listing has included, in addition to Altamira, further caves with Paleolithic art in northern Spain.