The Ekain cave in Gipuzkoa is a Paleolithic site famous for its paintings. Discovered in June 1969 by members of the Antxieta culture group, it is a sanctuary dedicated to horses. The cave contains 34 drawings of horses, making up half of all the animal representations found in the site. Some look like Przewalski's horses, others like tarpans, and some fall somewhere in between. Archaeologist André Leroi-Gourhan defined the paintings in Ekain as the most perfect collection of horses in Quaternary art.
One specific gallery features a large, horizontal rock formation that looks like a horse's head. It is said that this specific shape may be the reason people chose this location as a sanctuary for the horse. Research shows that the cave art was not related to hunting, as the painted animals do not match the remains found in the cave's sediment. In fact, while horses are the main subject, deer were the species most frequently hunted.
The original Ekain cave is closed to the public, but a replica called Ekainberri exists in Zestoa. This center contains copies of the paintings and recreates the cave's structure. The doors of the replica opened in October 2009, and the center saw 31,000 visitors in its first year.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
Discuss this with the author and others
No comments yet. Be the first to start the conversation.