Pilgrimage to the Cave of Altamira

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Today I went on a different kind of pilgrimage- to the Cave of Altamira. Very early in my teaching career I taught my students about this place. I was inspired by a book I received for my 21st birthday- The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski. I’ve wanted to visit the place ever since- and today I did!
Art, science, anthropology, spirituality and mystery abound there

Imagine living here and looking out to the surrounding valleys between thirty thousand and thirteen thousand years ago. This was the view from the Cave of Altamira before a rock fall sealed its entrance. It was rediscovered in the late 19th century, only to be threatened by excessive tourism and subsequently closed to the public in the mid 1980s. 
A replica site was built next door as part of the museum 

Artists combined limestone , ochre and charcoal blending with the cracks and shapes  of the rock to create images that lay in the dark ‘protected’ for more than thirteen thousand years 

This one is from 22000 years ago 
Today the site is mostly unrecognisable, I took this shot of an entrance to the actual cave network through the gap in the top of an iron door- left to allow bats to pass in and out [Altamira turned in a bat cave!Holy %** Batman - yes sorry to say Robin]
Anyway you get an idea of the look of the real rock.

Outside it looks like this- hard to imagine 
Though I can imagine our prehistoric ancestors looking out from this hillside on rainy days and thinking about lunch

Bison aside, they didn’t have a bus to take them back to Comillas

And this 

I celebrated my Altamira visit with a special lunch- I don’t know what I ordered but it was delicious (Tataki de atun con vinagreta de citricos- yum, translation anyone?)
After lunch I visited a house designed by Gaudi for. the lawyer of the local Marquis who became rich and famous (as an Indianos) from all the work that he (or more likely many of his  less well paid ‘employees’) did in Cuba - 🤔 - but that’s another story 

Although I quite liked the themes of nature and music 

A bird on the ivories!

A bee playing a guitar- never seen that before .(well except for Sting?)

It was a memorable day - as expected it rained constantly so I was pleased to spend my time in buses, a cave, a restaurant, and a wacky house - although I did get a little wet walking from place to place- didn’t mind all that much. I was packless- it was lovely 😊 


[if you’re interested for more info on the Cave of Altamira - check episode one Ascent of Mam BBC television; or just enjoy listening to Caves of Altamira by Steely Dan] M🎸



Comments

  1. Anonymous29 October 2023 at 21:59

    How awesome! What a range of artistic expressions and history you covered. And that tuna takaki looks delicious 😋

    ReplyDelete

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