ALTXERRI, A DECORATED CAVE IN NORTHERN SPAIN:

Red painted panel, Altxerri Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

A cave in northern Spain, in the Basque territories, provides some new examples of cave art.

Identified as an antelope, Altxerri Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

“Altxerri Cave is located in the east of the northern Spanish coast, in the town of Aia (Basque Country, Spain). The present entrance (the original entrances collapsed) was uncovered by quarrying in 1956, and the first graphic representations were found in 1962. The cave system consists of three levels, connected by shafts and chimneys, where the modern entrance leads to the intermediate level. The important Magdalenian art ensemble in this level has been published in two monographs and warranted the inclusion of the site in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2008. However, neither of the monographs included the upper passage (Altxerri B), although the existence of paintings had been cited. These have since been studied briefly, confirming the existence of a large red bison and mentioning the remains of other red figures, which, according to the authors, were impossible to interpret. The authors also cited a bison vertebra inserted in a fissure and published the results of two 14C-AMS dates for two chamois bones (Rupicapra rupicapra) deposited beneath the wall with the paintings.” (González-Sainz, Cesar et al., 2013: 457) Altixerri B is the third, and upper, passage that is difficult to access and so had been pretty much overlooked in previous studies.

Mouflon, Altxerri Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

“The cave, which had been sealed off for millennia, was discovered in 1956 when a temporary quarry was opened during road-building. This broke through to the intermediate level of the cave system. In 1962, speleologists discovered paintings in this passage (Altxerri A).” (Ruiz-Redondo, Aitor, et al., 2015:66)

Reindeer with fox inserted, Altxerri Cave, Spain.

Close-up of reindeer with fox inserted, Altxerri Cave, Spain.

My absolute favorite example of rock art here is the beautiful palimpsest of a fox superimposed upon a large reindeer, or vice versa. It is tempting to posit a relationship between them and look for a deeper meaning, but I do not think we have anywhere near enough information for such an analysis.

Fish, Altxerri Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

Genetic testing has indicated that the modern inhabitants of the Basque regions are genetically related to the Paleolithic residents of the same area.

“In May 2012, the National Geographic Society Genographic Project released a study that showed through detailed DNA analysis of samples from French and Spanish Basque regions that Basques share unique genetic patterns that distinguish them from the surrounding non-Basque populations. The results of the study clearly support the hypothesis of a partial genetic continuity of contemporary Basques with the preceding Paleolithic/Mesolithic settlers of their homeland.” (Wikipedia)

Horse, Altxerri Cave, Spain. Internet image, public domain.

I find it personally quite exciting to learn that the modern descendents of the creators of this Cave art may still inhabit the area. What a feeling of attachment to the land and a sense of belonging might that confer.

NOTE: Images in this column were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

González-Sainz, Cesar et al., 2013, Not only Chauvet: Dating Aurignacian rock art in Altxerri B Cave (northern Spain), Journal of Human Evolution 65, pp. 4 57-464. Accessed online 21 September 2025.

Ruiz-Redondo, Aitor, et al., 2015, Back to the past: Symbolism and archaeology in Altxerri B (Gipuzkoa, Northern Spain), Quaternary International, March 2017, DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.013, Available online October 2015, pp. 66-76. Accessed online 21 September 2025.

Wikipedia, Origin of the Basques, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_the_Basques. Accessed online 8 November 2025.

 

BASQUE ROCK ART:

Horses, Atxurra cave, Diego Garate.

Vandalism in Axturra cave,

and paleolithic image after

processing photograph.

By Diego Garate.

When I first became interested in rock art back in 1978 we were living in Grand Junction, Colorado, an area with access to the magnificent rock art of western Colorado and eastern Utah. In an interesting connection to this report I remember that the results of the previous Federal Census had just been released and the largest minority population in Grand Junction at that time was ethnic Basques, supposedly because of sheepherders who had come over from the Old World to work, and then stayed.

Fish petroglyph, Gipuzkoa cave, Northern Spain. Photo from arkeobasque.

The study of the magnificent art of the painted caves in Europe, centered on France and Spain, has tended (predominately for nationalistic reasons) to ignore the area in between, the Basque-inhabited regions of northern Spain. The Basques were (are) often seen as less cultured, a somewhat more primitive people living in a wild, mountainous land at the western end of the Pyrenees.

Map of the Basque region, northern Spain.

The painted cave of Altamira is in Cantabria, Spain, and the Basque territory is nestled between Cantabria and the southern French centers of cave art. The Basque Autonomous Community (7,234 km square) consists of three provinces, specifically designated "historical territories": Alava (capital: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Biscay (capital: Bilbao), and Gipuzkoa (capital: Donostie-San Sebastian). This, the Basque territory provides a continuous region connecting the centers of French cave art with the Spanish. We are now beginning to learn that the art is continuous as well, with the discovery of magnificent Paleolithic painted caves in the Basque region by archeologist Diego Garate and others. (It should be noted as well that there is a Basque population in the southern French region.

Bison, Askondo cave, photo from arkeobasque.

Indeed, the Basques may have inhabited this area since the stone age, their origins lost in the mists of time. “Since the Basque language is unrelated to Indo-European, it has long been thought to represent the people or culture that occupied Europe before the spread of Indo-European languages there. A comprehensive analysis of Basque genetic patterns has shown that Basque genetic uniqueness predates the arrival of agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula, about 7,000 years ago. It is thought that Basques are a remnant of the early inhabitants of Western Europe, specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region. Basque tribes were mentioned in Roman times by Strabo and Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani, and others.” (Wikipedia)

Horse panel, Ekain Cave, Internet photo Public Domain.

        Closeup of horse panel, Ekain Cave,

            Internet photo Public Domain.

Legends of the Basque people themselves talk about people who only knew tools of stone. “The jentilak ('Giants'), on the other hand, are a legendary people of the high lands and with no knowledge of iron. Many legends about them tell that they were bigger and taller, with a great force, but were displaced by the ferrons, or workers of ironworks foundries, until their total fade-out.” (Wikipedia)

We know that the inhabitants of France are probably not direct descendants of the creators of the art, and the same goes for the bulk of Spain. It does appear, however, that the inhabitants of the Basque region are probably genetically related to the creators of the Paleolithic cave art. Could it be that the people who are today discovering and studying the Paleolithic art of the Basque territory, are the direct descendants of the people who produced it originally?

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Arkeobasque

2015 Recent Advances In Paleolithic Rock Art In Basque Country (2010-2015), 28 April 2015, arkeobasque.wordpress.com

Cowie, Ashley

2020 40,000-Year-Old Cave Art Fills Basque Country Void, 13 March 2020, www.ancient-origins.net

Garate, Diego

2018 Solving A Riddle About The Dawn Of Art, 16 Jan 2018, www.sapiens.org

Schuster, Ruth

2020 Ancient Art Found In Basque Country Changes Understanding Of Prehistoric Society, 12 March 2020, www.haaretz.com

Wikipedia

Basques, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basques

Basque Country (greater region), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basque_Country_(greater_region)