The Cave of Altxerri (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

"Cueva de Altxerri", and in

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

''Altxerriko leizea'' or ''Altxerriko koba'') is located in the municipality of Aya (

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

) in the Basque Country (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). The original grotto preserves rock paintings and engravings which have been dated from the end of the Upper

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

period, within the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

; the pictures situated in an upper gallery, known as Altxerri B, have been dated in a 2013 study as the oldest stone paintings in Europe, with an estimated age of 39,000 years. Its artistic style forms part of the so-called Franco-Cantabrian School, characterized by the realism of the figures presented. Altxerri houses one of the largest sets of rock engravings of the area. It contains around one hundred and twenty engravings of which ninety-two are of animals. The

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

is the best-represented animal, with a total of fifty-three engravings. Other animals present in the cave are the reindeer, with six engravings, four deer and goats, three horses and

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

, two saiga antelope, a

wolverine The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species, member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The w ...

, a fox, a hare and a bird. It was declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2008, together with sixteen other caves situated in Northern Spain, as part of the group known as the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.

References

{{Authority control Caves of the Basque Country (autonomous community) Altxerri Magdalenian Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain Landforms of Gipuzkoa Urola Kosta