Spanish archaeologists have revealed approximately 280 rock inscriptions dating back to the Paleolithic era, inside the Font Major cave in the Catalonia region, in a discovery that adds new evidence of artistic activity by human societies in the western Mediterranean region during the Ice Age.
The scientific website (Phys.org) reported, in a story published yesterday Wednesday, that a team from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA) found the inscriptions inside a cave visited by tourists and researchers for decades, without their presence attracting attention to their archaeological value, noting that the study results were published in the specialized archaeological journal "Antiquity".
Graphical and historical diversity
The inscriptions include drawings of animals, such as horses and wild bulls, along with lines and geometric shapes, and form the third largest known group of Paleolithic cave art on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, and the largest group of its kind discovered so far in Catalonia.
Analyses showed that the inscriptions possess artistic characteristics that distinguish them from paintings discovered in the Franco-Cantabrian region, which extends between France and northern Spain, suggesting the existence of specific local artistic traditions in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, an area that has not received sufficient attention in previous studies of ancient cave art.
Researchers believe that the discovery expands knowledge regarding the spread of human societies and their artistic practices during the Paleolithic era in the western Mediterranean, while also highlighting the importance of re-examining known archaeological sites, given the possibility that they contain historical evidence that has not been previously identified.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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