Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain

The Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain refers to 18 historic caves that are located in separate parts of the North of Spain. The cave of Altamira was acknowledged as a world-historic establishment in the year 1985 and the year 2008, the site was enlarged to include the other 17 sites. Because of its paintings and history, it became the most visited site throughout the years by both natives and tourists. The cave is among the most significant painting successions in history and is a representation of an apogee of the Paleolithic cave art.

The caves are well preserved due to painting galleries which are secluded from the external effects of climate. They are adorned as the work of art of innovative mastermind and the original art that was accomplished by humans. The caves are also adorned as unique testimonials to social custom and also a mark of a very important passage in the history of human (Peredo, Roberto & Asensio 40). The colors in the caves were so appealing and the animals appeared to be alive such that they appeared to be only a few years old yet they had existed for years. Unfortunately over the years, the visitors who came to admire this cave were a cause of destruction. The external influences of climate also had a part in the destruction of the cave.

Due to many visitors who visited cave art, the ecosystem of the cave including the gases, temperature among others was altered and the paintings started being damaged (Peredo, Roberto & Asensio 49). The limestone ceiling which had been intact for many years started to show and the colors started fading and flaking. The deposits of whitish crystals started appearing. The historic paintings started getting destroyed getting other features because of the cracks and fissures from the cave. Limestone is soluble in water and the creation of the cave occurred by water dissolving the limestone and carrying it away but the water is also a threat to the Altamira paintings. Other signs of decay could be seen in the cave. The paints began to dry and flake or could be seen to have faded. In some areas of the cave, the rock base itself was becoming more damaged.

            This led to the closure of the cave Altamira in 1977 and later handed over to a team of investigators. The investigators brought with them all the measuring equipment to take the temperature measurements, humidity levels, and water. Other components that were measured included how air flowed inside and outside of the cave, industrial contaminants, the acidity of water, and carbon dioxide (Peredo, Roberto & Asensio 49). The scientific intervals were taken at very close intervals, videos of the paintings were taken and saved in a computer to make it possible to check and notice any alterations for the paintings.

 Studies of the cave took one year and a half without allowing visitors and the only ones that were allowed came in for brief periods to note the changes. The conclusions that were made from the cave studies indicated that the presence of many people had caused a radical change to the environment. They altered what the water was composed of and the alterations made it bathe the paintings. This could be explained by a person’s expiration of water plus the release of carbon dioxide which when combined acts upon the natural water whereby it solidifies the colors and the rock leaving crystals behind (Ingrid, et al 117). That is the reason why no crystals had ever formed long before until people began visiting the caves.

The radon studies of the cave were prompted by the drying off of the caverns caused by the presence of people. Radon is a radioactive gas that is found in indoor environments (Lario et al. 169). The elevators that were installed were found to be the major cause because they were pumping dry air in the cave and damp air out. Therefore the artificial exchange of air needed to be reduced to curb the problem mostly during summer. After the completion of the investigations, the site was opened but with a limited number of visitors that could be allowed in. later in the year 2002, the site was completely closed when body heat, light, and moisture were found to be the cause of a green mold that grew on the historic works. The visitors were given access to a nearby museum that was a replica of the Altamira cave and despite not being the real one, it still invited a lot of visitors.

There have been campaigns geared towards opening the cave. The main objective of this is achieving a balance between preserving the rock art and making the cave which is part of Spain’s heritage accessible to the natives and the tourists. But this move has been criticized by the scientists who believe that this will be endangering the paintings fragile ecosystem (Peredo, Roberto & Asensio 51). The specialists concluded that feeding the Altamira cave to the tourism industry leads to its destruction hence the opening of a replica to be able to conserve the real and most outstanding forms of art.  In 2014, the site was opened again but this time allowing very few people inside and had to wear protective gear while getting inside to keep the cave and the paintings protected.

The Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain is a historical site that consists of the most appealing artworks ever seen in history. The caves are well reserved to protect them from external influences of climate that have been seen to cause great damage to the paintings and galleries. The climatic changes made the cave begin cracking and flaking destroying the beautiful paintings. This caused the inclusion of investigators to the site whereby they measured temperature, humidity gas levels, water, and carbonates to be able to figure out the root cause and get a solution. It is also said that the visiting of the site by people in large numbers was also a cause of the destruction of the cave. This caused the closure of the site and when the investigations were completed, only a small group of people were allowed to visit the site to be able to keep preserving and protecting it. This gave rise to campaigns for the site to be opened to remain to be the world heritage site that it used to be. The scientists believed in conserving the cave and that if they would allow a large number of people inside, it would cause destruction once again. A replica of the site was opened up for visiting which attracted a lot of visitors and enabled the real site to be conserved from destruction. Very few people are allowed in the Altamira cave and when they are, caution is observed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Groth, Ingrid, et al. "Actinomycetes in karstic caves of northern Spain (Altamira and Tito

Bustillo)." Journal of microbiological methods 36.1-2 (1999): 115-122.

Lario, J., et al. "Radon continuous monitoring in Altamira Cave (northern Spain) to assess user's

annual effective dose." Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 80.2 (2005): 161-174.

Ontañón-Peredo, Roberto, and José Adolfo Rodríguez-Asensio. "Cave of Altamira and

palaeolithic cave art of northern Spain. Composition, characteristics and management." Cuadernos de Arte Rupestre 7 (2014): 37-57.