Stone Age Images

Altamira is the name of a hill in northern Spain, near the town of Santillana del Mar. Beneath it lies a cave that has become world-famous. In 1879, the researcher Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola visited the cave with his daughter María. According to the story, María was the first to spot the pictures on the ceiling. She is said to have called out: “Look, Papa, bulls!”

Bison, horses and deer can be seen on the cave walls and ceilings. Sautuola suspected that the paintings had been made by people in the Stone Age. But many scientists did not believe him at first. It was only later that people realised he was right.

The paintings were created over many thousands of years. The oldest traces are about 36,000 years old, and the most recent are around 13,000 years old. People lived as hunter-gatherers back then. They hunted animals and gathered berries, fruit, and plants.

They used ochre to paint in red, yellow and brown. They made black lines with charcoal or manganese oxide. They applied the paint with their hands, simple tools and perhaps brushes too. The painters blew some of the paint onto the rock walls. They also made use of the rock’s contours to make the animals look lifelike.

Today, the cave is closed to visitors. Heat, moisture and germs could damage the paintings. However, you can visit the Neocueva at the Altamira Museum. It is a very accurate replica of the cave, including its famous painted ceiling.