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Also known as the Sistine Chapel of prehistory, thanks to the beauty and high quality of drawings and engravings made by man Magdalenian cave of Altamira, located in the Cantabria region of Spain, it is part of a replica, designed to take the pressure of tourism activity, preventing such deterioration of conditions that allowed preservation of cave paintings over time.
The discovery of paintings by a little girl …
Altamira cave was discovered in 1868 by a hunter named Modesto Cubillas that the existence of numerous other caves in the area has not granted importance. Who has explored was a passion for paleontology, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola that first visit, however, around 1875, there are few signs abstract noted that it has not attributed to human activity. He returned four years later, however, this time accompanied by his daughter Maria Faustina Sanz Rivarola at the age of 8 years. The goal that came was to excavate the cave entrance, looking for scraps of bone or flint, as noticed in the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1878. The discovery of the child belonged in reality, that while his father remained in the entrance area of the cave, the lished in a side room. There he saw the paintings on the ceiling and drew the attention of the father.
A year later, in 1880, he published a booklet entitled Sautola Brief notes on some prehistoric objects in the province of Santander . In this exposé idea prehistoric origin of the paintings, including a series of graphic representations. Despite outlined his thesis to the teacher of geology at the University of Madrid, Juan Vilanova, who accepted an interpretation of Sautola will be rejected by the French Cartailhac, Mortillet and Harlem, scientists considered at the time expert studies of prehistory and paleontology at European level.
The long road to recognition
Refusing to accept auteticitatea paintings from academia and scientific and death two supporters of this cause at the end of the nineteenth century, it seemed to condemn the Altamira cave forever as one of frauds modernity.
Recognition was to come but since 1902, when presenting research on parietal art of Henri Breuil in the congress of the French Association for Scientific Advance significant changes among researchers era. Although initially challenged auteticitatea paintings of Altamira, following the discovery of caves in France since 1895, Émile Cartailhac would reconsider its position. So, after visiting caves in Cantabria will write an article published in 1902 in the magazine L’Anthropology entitled ” Cave of Altamira. Mea culpa of a skeptic ” Article scoring universal character recognition Palaeolithic paintings of Altamira.
Representations of Altamira
The walls and ceiling of the cave of Altamira both are covered with drawings and paintings, engravings and with belonging to different eras and made by various techniques. It is noted in the complex of Altamira, polychrome ceiling great rooms, considered by many authors peak work or even Paleolithic Magdalenian.
Among the animals represented include deer, bison, horses, pigs, for their achievement is using mineral pigments iron ocruri brown and yellow and vegetable carbon, mixed with water or dry, some authors considering that in preparearea colors can be used grease animal as a binder. The color is applied either with your fingers or with certain materials used as a paintbrush, or be blown through a bone-in chicken or vegetable material through the hollow.
The authors of these paintings and engravings have skillfully used the natural topography of the rock to create a volume effect and mobility. Also, using the two predominant colors, red and black and scraping selective areas to highlight certain details, gives extra volume and expressive images.
The sensation of realism is obtained by employing those bumps natural rock that creates the illusion of volume by calling vivid colors that are placed on the inside surface (red, black, yellow, brown) and using art drawing and engraving, separating such contours figures.
Altamira, original and replica
Altamira cave was opened to the public in 1917, since 1924 was declared National Monument since then the number of visitors continues to grow at the level of 1973 recorded 174 000 visitors. The large volume of tourists has had negative consequences, endangering the cave microclimate and conservation of paintings.
Following the extensive debate that followed the finding of damage in 1977, the cave will be closed for public access in 1982 were re-opened, but imposing a limited number of 8,500 annual visits. However, the number of people who wanted to see her, and long waiting period, which may extend to one year, imposed the need to build a replica.
Since 2001, along with original works cave National Museum and Center for the Investigation of Altamira, the architect Juan Navarro Baldeweg opera. Inside this new complex can visit the cave, the most faithful reproduction of the original. It is available and reproduction cave paintings, made by Pedro Saura and Matilde Muzquiz, both professors of the Faculty of Bellas Artes at the University Complutense of Madrid. To achieve images were used the same techniques of drawing, engraving and painting that were used by the authors of the Paleolithic. The copy was executed with extreme thoroughness, so that during the process of studying the originals were discovered new paintings and engravings.
Along with this reply, there are two reproductions of paintings, one being in an artificial cave built in the garden of the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, and the other is placed in the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
In the first decade of the XXI century arose a debate on the appropriateness of reopening the cave to the public. The Ministry of Culture has requested a study on the state of the paintings and the opportunity it re-enroll in the tourist circuit, which was made public in 2010. In June of the same year, Altamira Cave Employers confirmed that it will be reopened, despite recommendations conclusions drawn in the study, which indicated otherwise.
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