Hidden in the green hillsides of Cantabria, just two kilometres from the medieval town of Santillana del Mar, the Cave of Altamira guards one of humanity's oldest and most sophisticated artistic achievements. Paintings of bison, horses, deer and abstract symbols adorn the cave ceiling, created by Upper Paleolithic people between 36,000 and 14,000 years ago. Since its rediscovery in the nineteenth century, Altamira has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of early human creativity.
Discovery and Initial Controversy
The cave was first found in 1868 by a local hunter named Modesto Cubillas, who noticed a narrow opening partially hidden by fallen trees. However, it was not until 1879 that the paintings gained attention. Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, a local landowner and amateur archaeologist, was exploring the cave with his eight-year-old daughter, Maria, when she looked up at the ceiling and exclaimed: "Look, Papa, oxen!"
Sautuola published his findings the following year, claiming the paintings were prehistoric. The academic establishment was sceptical; many scholars accused him of forgery, arguing that prehistoric people could not possibly have created art of such sophistication. It was not until the early 1900s, after similar paintings were discovered in other European caves, that Sautuola was vindicated posthumously.
The Art of the Ceiling
The most celebrated section of Altamira is the Polychrome Ceiling, a 18-metre-long, low-roofed chamber covered with large-scale paintings of bison, deer, horses and wild boar. What makes these works remarkable is the use of multiple pigments. The artists employed red and yellow ochre, charcoal and manganese oxide, blending colours to create shading and three-dimensional effects.
Many of the bison figures cleverly exploit natural bumps in the rock surface to suggest the animal's musculature, giving the paintings a sculptural quality. Researchers have identified at least 25 individual animal figures on the ceiling, along with various geometric signs and hand stencils found elsewhere in the cave. The level of anatomical accuracy and movement captured in the figures suggests a deep, observational knowledge of the animals these people hunted and lived alongside.
Conservation Challenges
Altamira was opened to the public in the 1960s, and at its peak, more than 170,000 visitors entered the cave each year. By the early 1970s, scientists noticed alarming changes: the carbon dioxide and moisture exhaled by visitors was causing green algae to grow on the paintings and was destabilising the microclimate that had preserved them for millennia.
The cave was fully closed to the public in 1977, briefly reopened with strict limits, and closed again in 2002 for further study. As of 2024, the original cave remains largely inaccessible, though a limited weekly lottery-based programme occasionally allows a small group to enter under controlled conditions.
The Altamira Museum and Neocave
To satisfy public interest without endangering the originals, the Altamira National Museum and Research Centre was built adjacent to the cave and opened in 2001. Its centrepiece is the Neocave (Neocueva), a meticulous full-scale replica of the Polychrome Ceiling and other significant sections of the cave.
Constructed using high-resolution photogrammetry and pigment analysis, the replica reproduces the rock surfaces, curvatures and paintings with such fidelity that many visitors describe the experience as deeply moving even knowing it is a copy. The museum also houses exhibits on Paleolithic daily life, flint tool-making, and the geological processes that formed the cave.
The Wider Cave Art of Northern Spain
Altamira is the most famous, but it is far from the only cave with prehistoric art in Cantabria and the wider north of Spain. The UNESCO World Heritage listing extended in 2008 now covers 18 caves across Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque Country, including El Castillo, Tito Bustillo and Ekain. These sites together form one of the most important clusters of Paleolithic art anywhere on the planet.
For visitors interested in deepening their understanding, the Cave of El Castillo in Puente Viesgo is open to the public and features some of the oldest known cave art, with hand stencils dated to at least 40,800 years ago.