Palaeolithic engravings discovered in western Spain

Researchers from Spain and Portugal have discovered a new enclave of open-air Palaeolithic art located next to the Arroyo de las Almas, a spot located in La Fregeneda, Salamanca, near the mouth of the Agueda river and its main tributaries, before it joins the Duero river. Scientists estimate that there are about 600 engravings from different periods, but highlight the importance of 21 of them that belong to the Upper Palaeolithic which have been studied in detail.

Figures from the Iron Age, from the first millennium B.C., among which a deer stands out
[Credit: Mario Reis]

The discovery was published journal Trabajos de Prehistoria by Carlos Vazquez Marcos, researcher at the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Salamanca, and Mario Reis, archaeologist at the Fundacao Coa Parque.

The archaeologists found the engravings in 2015 on slate and schist rocks and are now making them public after the relevant scientific studies.

The new site is located near the prehistoric rock art archaeological sites of Siega Verde, also in the province of Salamanca, and the Coa Valley in Portugal, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is likewise "an open-air Palaeolithic art, with figures of very similar styles," Mario Reis explains.

The resemblance is greater with the Portuguese valley, which is a little closer. "There are several rock engraving techniques, but in the Coa Valley the incision is predominant, which is the only one we find in Arroyo de las Almas. "It is made by scratching the rock with flint tools or quartz crystals", says Carlos Vazquez.

Head and antlers of a deer in a Palaeolithic engraving
[Credit: Mario Reis]

Although it was not characteristic of the area, flint is a common exchange material between hunters and gatherers of the Palaeolithic with surrounding groups, sometimes from relatively distant places.

The animals depicted in this La Fregeneda enclave are also the same as those found in the other two cave engraving sites: deer, equids and goats. Of the 21 panels studied, there are 13 with zoomorphic motifs, 7 representing signs and one undetermined motif.

Another aspect that links Arroyo de las Almas with the Coa Valley is the wide chronology of the figures. The oldest engravings, which have been studied in depth by their discoverers, would be between 17,500 and 9,500 years of age, which means that they belong to the Upper Palaeolithic and to the last of the great cultures of this period, the Magdalenian, and even to a later transition period that anticipates the arrival of the Neolithic.

But the engravings of Arroyo de las Almas "are not made at a particular point in time, we also find very later art, from the Iron Age, and agropastoral and popular art from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which is also important, not for us, who are prehistorians, but for anthropologists and historians of the Modern Age," says the expert from the University of Salamanca.

Paleolithic deer, one of the engravings of Arroyo de las Almas
[Credit: Mario Reis]

However, the Palaeolithic engravings of Arroyo de las Almas are not a mere copy of those found previously in the Coa Valley or in Siega Verde, but "have their own originality in the four chronological periods considered, which makes it very interesting, not just another dot on the map of Palaeolithic art," stresses Mario Reis.

The Portuguese archaeologist began prospecting in the Coa Valley in 2005. Shortly afterwards, he explored the area bordering Spain and Portugal and, due to its geological characteristics, believed that there could also be cave engravings there. The Arroyo de las Almas, a tributary of the Agueda river, runs through a small valley that "seemed to be very favourable to the existence of more rock art". So Reis and Vazquez decided to carry out a joint project in the area and were "lucky enough to be able to discover an excellent set of new engravings".

The particular area "is very difficult to access" and it is also difficult to spot the oldest engravings immediately. Even so, it is evident that they had been seen by the people around them, who over time have been drawing new motifs on or next to them, but their scientific discovery had not yet taken place, that is to say, a rigorous study that would reveal their purpose.

"The state of preservation is not very different from that observed in Siega Verde or Coa, and that has a lot to do with the resistance of these shale surfaces to the passage of time," says the Portuguese archaeologist. However, some engravings are very worn, especially in areas closer to the stream, where there has been more human activity.

Detail of the head of a Palaeolithic deer
[Credit: Mario Reis]

Given the difficulties in observing all the details, the researchers used specific night lighting techniques to study and document the main panels. "Much remains to be done, especially using new technologies such as photogrammetry, which may reveal new information, even on panels already studied but with very difficult visual perception and where some details may have escaped observation," says Reis.

The information provided by Arroyo de las Almas is extraordinary, as it consolidates the Duero valley as "the great region of open-air Palaeolithic art from Portugal to Spain, and shows an important network of contacts and connections in this very remote period". In addition to Siega Verde, Coa and this new site in La Fregeneda, there are several more examples of this type of art located in the Portuguese territory, especially around the river Sabor.

"The fact that there is art means that there has been a population and, moreover, probably on a more continuous basis than had been thought. Now we would have to look for the places of settlement, the sites of the places of habitation, which have to be in the immediate vicinity", says the prehistorian of the University of Salamanca.

Moreover, it is increasingly evident that "open-air Palaeolithic art was more frequent than was thought a few years ago". The artistic representations of this period are not limited to caves, as demonstrated by these enclaves and some others in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as France and Germany.

Head of a horse in an engraving from the Magdalenian period
[Credit: Mario Reis]

Engravings from other eras are also very interesting, starting with those from the Iron Age and ending with popular art from the Modern Age. There is also another boulder with typical Neolithic schematic engravings and two others with a very interesting types of engravings: agglomerations of linear lines that are relatively abundant in the nearby Portuguese Duero basin, where they are known as "devil's claws". This is the first time that engravings with these specific characteristics have been identified in Spain.

"It would be interesting to extend the archaeological survey to other parts of the Agueda valley, as there could be more points of interest. One of the shelters we detected with Iron Age engravings also seems to have possible traces of occupation from this period, and it could be very interesting for some specialists of this period to explore," the researchers say.

Source: Agencia Dicyt [trsl. TANN, August 31, 2019]