The Cueva del Castillo contains both a decorated cave and an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo in Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain. The site was discovered in 1903 by Spanish archaeologist Hermilio Alcalde del Rio, who was a pioneer in the study of the earliest cave paintings in the region. Alcalde del Rio found an extensive sequence of images executed in charcoal and red ochre on the walls and ceilings of multiple caverns.
Uranium-thorium datings on cave discs in 2012 provided dates older than 40,000 years, which could be consistent with the tradition of cave painting originating in the Proto-Aurignacian. A 1911 monograph by Alcalde del Rio, Breuil, and Sierra first catalogued about 200 motifs in the area. Further research into the site has also explored the sex of prehistoric artists, with a 2013 study of finger length ratios in hand stencils from France and Spain determining that the majority were of female hands.
A complete study of the cave conducted from 2003 to 2023 identified 2,698 motifs and 118 pieces of archaeological evidence. The findings include 541 figurative motifs, consisting of 475 animals, 3 composite animals, 21 humans, 1 composite human, 1 imaginary creature, and 40 projectiles. The study also recorded 924 non-figurative motifs, including 834 elementary tracings and 90 complex tracings, as well as 884 marks, 84 handprints, and 17 lithophones.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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