Armintxe Cave in

Lekeitio Lekeitio (; ) is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the Spanish Autonomous Community of Basque Country, northeast from Bilbao. The municipality has 7,307 inhabitants (2019) and is one of the most important fishing po ...

(

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 ...

) is an important

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

site, estimated to date from between 12,000 and 14,500 years ago.

Location

Armintxe Cave is situated in the Lekeitio municipality of the

Biscay Biscay ( ; ; ), is a province of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community, heir of the ancient Lordship of Biscay, lying on the south shore of the Bay of Biscay, eponymous bay. The capital and largest city is Bilb ...

province, in the Basque Country, northern Spain.

Discovery

Although the cave was known from a long time ago, it was believed that it disappeared because of the urbanization and construction works made at the end of the 20th century and beginnings of the 21st. It was found again and explored on May 1, 2016, by eight

speleologists Speleology () is the scientific study of caves and other karst features, as well as their composition, structure, physical properties, history, ecology, and the processes by which they form (speleogenesis) and change over time (speleomorpholog ...

from the Basque group ADES Espeleologia Elkartea. After opening the entrance duct, located on a hillside in an urban environment, the cavers entered unknown galleries, and forced a step to a room where they found the panel of engravings.

Rock art

Some of these forms and the etching technique used were announced to be "identical" to those found in the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

which suggests that there could have been links between the inhabitants of both areas. Already described as a “treasure of humanity.” the depictions are among the largest found to date – some measuring up to in length. A surprise was the first Paleolithic representation of two lions in the region. In a first analysis the etchings were estimated to date from between 12,000 and 14,500 years ago. The main panel is beautifully and masterly carved with animal figures, displayed in a complex composition, suggesting some sort of perspective. All of them have been engraved with the same technique, scratching the soft limestone with the fingers or with a dull point, resulting in very detailed and easy to see figures. The animals are represented with high detail, typical from

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 ...

art style. Represented animals are horses, bisons, ibex and some carnivores. One of these carnivores has been interpreted as a lion, which is an animal rarely present in Magdalenian art. Besides, several signs, including clear claviforms, have been found there. The conventions used for representing animals and the presence of claviforms suggest that the figures could be related to the Late Magdalenian art. Not open to the public, 'extremely difficult to access', located under a residential building in the center of Lekeitio, the need to preserve the paintings outlines the current impossibility to access the artwork. ArmintxeDibujoA3

Conservation

The cave has a serious problem with floodings, due to construction and urbanization activities which have profoundly altered the course of the underground river. The episodic inundation of most of the galleries of Armintxe has already brought the deterioration of an undetermined part of the artistic heritage it encloses, and threatens to destroy the whole art ensemble. To solve the problem, it is necessary to finish the exploration in order to understand the

hydrogeological Hydrogeology (''hydro-'' meaning water, and ''-geology'' meaning the study of the Earth) is the area of geology that deals with the distribution and movement of groundwater in the soil and rocks of the Earth's crust (commonly in aqui ...

behaviour of the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

as a whole; but this exploration is actually paralysed due to disagreements between Administration, archaeologists and speleologists.

References

{{Navbox prehistoric caves Prehistoric art Caves of the Basque Country (autonomous community)

Location

Discovery

Rock art

Conservation

See also

References