Altamira cave: Palaeolithic cave art
Cueva de Altamira: arte rupestre paleolítico
- Date
- 1879 · confidence high
- Place
- Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, Spain
- Credited to
- Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and his daughter María; recognition by Cartailhac (1902)
- People
- 👤 Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola1831–1888
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
Sautuola identified the polychrome bison on Altamira's ceiling as Palaeolithic work; the academic establishment dismissed it as fraud until the discovery of Font-de-Gaume and Les Combarelles led Cartailhac to publish his 'Mea culpa of a sceptic' in 1902.
Coordinates of the cave. Sautuola died in 1888 without being vindicated. Recent dating places the oldest paintings at more than 36,000 years old.
What it led to
- Recognition of Upper Palaeolithic art
- Change in the image of 'cavemen'
- Discovery of Lascaux, Chauvet and other decorated caves
- Replica (Neocueva) for conservation
Built on
- Discovery of the cave by Modesto Cubillas (1868)
- Lartet and Christy's prehistory
Made possible
- Cueva de Hornos de la Peña1903
- Cueva de El Pendo1907
- Cueva del Pindal1908
- Lascaux cave12 de septiembre de 1940
- Uranium-thorium dating of cave art