The cave of Atxurra: a new major Magdalenian rock art sanctuary in Northern Spain

Abstract

The discovery of Palaeolithic parietal art in the cave of Atxurra took place within an archaeological surveying project that has been carried out over the last decade in the eastern Cantabrian region. As a consequence of this project, the number of caves with parietal art known in this region has tripled. The case of Atxurra Cave is a remarkable contribution because of the number of parietal representations and the presence of a related external and internal archaeological context. Through this contribution, we present the main data derived from the cave study project that is currently underway, as well as its implications for the reformulation of symbolic interaction during the late Upper Palaeolithic.