Rock Art of Altamira

This morning we drive to see the facsimile of the painted cave discovered in 1969 at Ekain in the Basque country, which is home to some of the most realistic colourful depictions of horse and bison. We leave the prehistoric era behind this afternoon with a visit to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Note the stark contrast between ancient and modern art.

We have an attractive drive through the mountains to the small cave of Covalanas, which is decorated with deer that are drawn entirely in red dotted outlines. After lunch, we visit the cave of El Pendo, which contains a panel 8.8 metres long of painted animals. Interestingly, portable art made from bone and antler was also found here in tremendous quantities.

Today we reach the famous site of Altamira, where we see the superb facsimile of the cave and the museum. Continue along the coast to El Pindal, a cave set into the cliffs above the sea – one of the most beautiful and spectacular locations of all the decorated caves. Here, we find a series of geometric signs and a variety of animal figures, including bison, deer, a fish, and also an unusual painting of a mammoth.

We travel to the south of Santillana, the site of several decorated caves, two of which we will visit. Firstly, we explore Las Monedas, a large, labyrinthine cave in which bear bones were also found. The art here is extremely homogeneous and it is considered likely that it was produced by just one person. The art at our second visit – the cave of El Castillo – clearly belongs to a number of different phases and recently produced some of the earliest dates for cave art in the world – more than 40,000 years. There are hundreds of animal figures and 50 red hand stencils to be observed here. This afternoon, there is time to explore the town of Santillana.

We travel west along the coast into the mountainous region of Asturias to La Loja – a cave with some fine engravings, which stand out clearly in white against the dark rock. This afternoon we see the cave of Tito Bustillo, discovered in 1968 by a group of cavers. The cave is famed for its frieze of horses and reindeer.

We visit Candamo, where the most famous engraving is a big stag turning its head, apparently pierced by many spears. We also view many other fine figures, some in surprising locations. Our final visit of the tour is to the prehistoric park at Teverga, where we are treated to a superb final overview of the caves and their discoveries.

We return home today after breakfast.