For more than 60 years, thousands of tourists exploring a cave in northeastern Spain unknowingly walked past one of the region’s largest collections of prehistoric artwork. Some even scratched their names and dates into the walls, directly over engravings left by humans tens of thousands of years earlier.
Now, a new study has documented 280 ancient engravings inside the Cova de la Font Major cave in Catalonia, including 55 animal figures depicting horses, deer, wild cattle, goats, and even a rare bear.
The findings, published in the journal Antiquity, challenge longstanding assumptions about prehistoric art in the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological evidence suggests humans occupied the cave’s interior as far back as approximately 40,000 years ago. At the same time, stylistic similarities indicate that many engravings likely predate the Magdalenian period, which began roughly 19,000 years ago.
Remarkably, researchers believe additional prehistoric artwork may already have been permanently destroyed by decades of tourism and modern graffiti.
“Apparent gaps in the Paleolithic record may reflect limitations in research strategies, visibility conditions or preservation factors, rather than the actual absence of rock art practices,” researchers write. “Cova de la Font Major not only fills a significant geographical gap in the distribution of Paleolithic parietal art but also demonstrates that no cave should be dismissed a priori, regardless of the suitability of its wall and ceiling surfaces or the intensity of human visitation.”
Ancient Artwork Was Overlooked for Decades
Located beneath the village of Espluga de Francolí, the Cova de la Font Major forms part of a large underground network containing approximately 2.2 miles of explored passages.
Although the cave reopened to exploration in the 19th century and became a tourist attraction in 1993, people did not recognize its prehistoric engravings until October 30, 2019.
During an archaeological investigation, researchers noticed unusual markings among the modern graffiti covering sections of the cave walls.
Closer examination revealed something astounding.
The markings included recognizable animal figures and geometric patterns characteristic of Paleolithic art, concentrated approximately 820 feet from the cave’s present entrance.
Researchers eventually identified 280 distinct graphic elements, including 55 animal representations. Thirty-three of those animal figures were concentrated in a single section of the cave.
The discovery was particularly surprising because the cave’s irregular limestone conglomerate walls had previously been considered unsuitable for prehistoric artwork.
However, ancient artists apparently exploited softer rock layers embedded between the harder formations, carving shallow grooves typically 3 to 7 millimeters wide.
Some engravings also appear to incorporate natural cracks and rock boundaries into their compositions.
One horse figure seems to use the boundary between two rock layers as the ground under its feet. Another depicts a deer lowering its head toward a natural horizontal fissure, potentially representing a water surface.
These details suggest prehistoric artists may have deliberately incorporated the cave’s existing natural features into their artwork.
A Discovery That Questions Europe’s Prehistoric History
Before the Cova de la Font Major discovery, archaeologists had identified only two possible examples of Paleolithic cave art in Catalonia.
One was a painted bovine figure stolen shortly after its discovery. The other was an incomplete engraving, possibly depicting a deer, whose human origin remains unknown.
The newly documented collection dramatically changes that picture.
According to the researchers, approximately 75% of known Paleolithic cave art assemblages along the Iberian Mediterranean contain five or fewer animal figures. More than 90% contain no more than 20.
With 55 animal representations, Cova de la Font Major now ranks as the third-largest known Paleolithic cave art assemblage along the entire Iberian Mediterranean coast.
Only the caves of Ardales and La Pileta, both in southern Spain, contain larger collections of animal imagery.
The findings raise the possibility that northeastern Spain’s apparent absence of prehistoric artwork reflects shortcomings in archaeological exploration rather than a genuine lack of artistic activity.
How Old Are the Mysterious Engravings?
Determining precisely when the artwork was created remains one of the investigation’s biggest challenges.
Radiocarbon dating of material recovered from the cave documents human activity approximately 40,800 to 35,400 years ago, followed by another period around 26,300 to 25,900 years ago.
Certain artistic conventions, including unusual Y-shaped animal limbs and heads constructed from three lines, resemble imagery found at other prehistoric sites associated with periods before the Magdalenian.
Together, these findings support an early Upper Paleolithic origin for many of the engravings.
However, the researchers emphasize that the artwork itself has not yet been directly dated. The cave also contains evidence of later human activity, including Iron Age ritual practices and medieval inscriptions.
One especially unusual panel contains hundreds of loop-shaped engravings, unlike those identified at other Paleolithic sites. Their age and cultural origins remain a mystery.
Future investigations could deliver additional definitive answers. At least one animal engraving is covered by calcite deposits that researchers hope to date using uranium-series techniques.
What Else Could Be Hiding in Europe’s Caves?
Beyond its archaeological significance, the discovery exposes a problem with how prehistoric sites have historically been investigated.
Cova de la Font Major was not an unexplored cavern concealed under an inaccessible mountain. Its decorated galleries had been visited for decades, and modern visitors had obscured or damaged some ancient markings.
The researchers suggest that similarly overlooked artwork could survive in other caves previously dismissed because of their geology, extensive human activity, or apparently unremarkable surfaces.
Indeed, the Font Major discovery has already encouraged investigations elsewhere in Catalonia, including Cova Simanya, where additional evidence of Paleolithic artistic activity has emerged.
What archaeologists once considered a major geographical gap in Europe’s prehistoric artistic traditions may instead reflect thousands of years of artwork waiting to be recognized.
The study, “Filling gaps: the Palaeolithic rock art of the Cova de la Font Major on the north-east Iberian Peninsula,” was published in Antiquity.
Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter: @LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email: LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com