Côa Valley Paleolithic Art
Encyclopedia
The Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site is an open air sites of Paleolithic
art
in northeastern Portugal
.
In the late 1980s, the engravings were discovered in Vila Nova de Foz Côa
. The site in situated in the valley of the Côa River
, and comprises thousands of engraved drawings of horses, bovines and other animal, human and abstract figures, dated from 22,000 to 10,000 years BCE. Since 1995 a team of archaeologists have been studying and cataloging this pre-historical complex and a park was created to receive visitors.
The first drawings appearing in the Côa Valley date between 22-20,000 years B.C., consisting of zoomorphic imagery of nature. Between 20-18,000 B.C. (Solutense period) a secondary group of animal drawings, included examples of muzzled horses. There was greater elaboration during 16-10,000 years B.C. (Magdalenense period), with a Paleolithic style, with an essentially anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs that included horses with their characteristic manes, aurochs with mouths and nostrils and deer.
There were further paintings dating back to the Epipaleolithic
period of zoomorphic semi-naturalist design. Another phase of anthropomorphic designs were encountered during the Neolithic, that included also included zoomorphic designs that were both geometric and abstract. Anthropomorphic designs also appeared dating back to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age
s that were primarily anthropomorphic in character.
Between the 5th and 1st centuries early organized humans were responsible for anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs that included weapons and symbols.
The final era of recorded rock art, corresponding to the 17th to 20th century, that include religious, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs, inscriptions and dates. The later part of these designs include representations of boats, trains, bridges, planes and representations of various scenes, including drawings completed by António Seixas and Alcino Tomé.
By the 1990s, prospectors revealed a group of important Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic carvings in the lower part of the Côa Valley, likely in November 1991 by Nelson Rabanda (but which were only publihsed in November 1994). Later, António Martinho Baptista would determine that Iron Age
carvings corresponded to Celtic-Iberian tribes, specifically the Medobrigenais or Zoilos. Some of the peoples identified, from this period, had not already been identified in other archaeological investigations.
In 1995, a plan to construct a dam was approved and principal work began in the Côa Valley. But, following the original discovery of rock art, an archaeologist had been investigating the kilometres long Côa valley under the direction of the national Portuguese energy producer (Energias de Portugal - EDP
) and the agency responsible for monitoring architectural patrimony (Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico - IPPAR
). Both agencies were aware of the prehistoric art along the Côa, much earlier then the general public and scientific community were informed. Archaeologist Nélson Rabanda, studying the site under an agreement between EDP and IPPAR, reported the case to the press, as well as other organizations interested in prehistoric art and patrimony, such as UNESCO
. There was an immediate move by EDP to disprove the age of the carvings, and thus continue their dam project.
The local scandal forced IPPAR to petition UNESCO for a review of the site, and Jean Clottes
in December 1994 came to the region to investigate the discoveries. But, the UNESCO reports were not unanimous about whether or not the power plant should be built; Clottes, the head of prehistoric department, noted that rising water may protect the engravings from vandalism, but also confirmed that Coa Valley "is the biggest open air site of palaeolithic art in Europe, if not in the world". At the time, the number of carvings were limited and many suspected that many more had already been submerged by the previous Pocinho Dam project. This was proven by Nelson Rabanda who investigated the submerged Canada do Inferno site, finding several other examples. With little input from the national government on its status it came to invading archaeologists to finally discover other sites in the areas of Penascosa, Ribeira de Riscos, Quinta da Barca, Vermelhosa, Vale de José Esteves, among others, who quickly published their discoveries or promoted them on national media networks. A citizens group Movimento para a Salvação das Gravuras do Côa quickly appeared with their slogan "As gravuras não sabem nadar" (The carvings can't swim), which they plasterd on the side of the local secondary school.
A second UNESCO team, lead by Mounir Bouchenaki, director of the World Heritage branch, was sent to definitively conclude the case: his team determined that a great part of the carvings dated as far back as the Palaeolithic. The dam construction led to a scandal within Portuguese government and pressure from the international community, with the project being denounced in newspapers like The Sunday Times
, The New York Times
and International Herald Tribune
, as well as in the public broadcasters such as BBC
.
Meanwhile, after the visit of the UNESCO delegation, the IPPAR created an international scientific commission to accompany the study of the art in the Côa valley: a move that was controversial. It included António Beltrán, E. Anati and Jean Clottes, and met on time in May 1994, while EDP continued to promote other methods of "saving" the prehistoric art (such as creating moulds or carving the panels from the cliff faces), while still promoting the continuation of the dam project. EDP was also helped by the direct dating controversy; Robert Bednarik and Alan Watchman, in addition to Fred Phillips and Ronald Dorn, used an unproven methodology to affirm that the carvings were not Palaeolithic. These events did not please the archaeologists and the public, and a NIMBY
movement towards the dam developed, which could only be resolved through a complete change in political thinking. This occurred with the 1995 Legislative elections
that saw a change in government; under Prime Minister António Guterres
the dam project was cancelled in November 1995.
A system of monitorization and conservation was established to protect the remnants; the events of the "Battle of Côa" were responsible for the constitution on May 1997, by the Ministry of Culture , the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology , the Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley , and the National Centre for Aquatic and Subaquatic Archaeology , was opened in August 1996, without legal authority.
The Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley were designated a World Heritage Site
by UNESCO
in 1998 (from an advisory board report on 25 June 1997).
In 2003, a study was begun to study the viability of introducing the Prewzalski species of horse, equivalent to those characterized in the Paleolithic rock art.
By May 2004, a public tender was commissioned by the Portuguese Order of Architects to design the Côa Museum (it was won by architects Tiago Pimentel and Camilo Rebelo). It was followed by a competition to construct the museum. On 26 January 2007, the Côa Museum construction was started with the placing of the first cornerstone by Minister of Culture, Isabel Pires de Lima, and work initiated by Monte Adiano.
Formal excavations began in Fariseu on 19 September 2005, completed in October, under the direction of Thierry Aubry, which discovered several slabs of schist (10 x 20 centimetres) dating to the Paleolithic.
The conference HERITAGE 2008 - World Heritage and Sustainable Development International Conference took place at Vila Nova de Foz Côa between 7–9 May 2008. The conference was conceived to examine the relationships between heritage and human development, and the natural environment and building preservation, and promoted significant discussion, organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture .
In August 2010, the World Heritage Committee extended the UNESCO world heritage extension to neighbouring site of Siega Verde
in Spain
. The Siega Verde Archaeological, with comparable carvings/etchings in 94 panels along a 15 kilometre stretch across the border includes over 500 representations. Its dating to the similar period, allowed its inclusion in the world designation with the Côa Valley sites.
The lower portion of Côa River Valley runs south to north, at about 130 metres above sea level, spread over an area of 17 km (10.56 mi) of the lower Côa river valley. The watercourse is flanked by rolling/undulating hills, surrounded by rare species of river brush, vineyards, olive and almond trees, with the higher elevations occupied by pasturelands and fields. At about the 17 kilometre mark, there relief is rocky with granite and schist outcroppings common.
The Prehistoric Rock Art Sites of the Côa Valley are actually 23 sites with engravings or paintings, along the last 17 kilometres of the River Côa (with ten sites located along the left bank and eight on the right bank of the river). In addition five sites are located along the tributaries along the Douro River, constituted into three different nuclei: Faia, Quinta da Barca and Penacosa, along the mouth of the Ribeira de Piscos, in an area of 20,000 hectares.
Of the 23 archaeological sites, 14 are classified:
Nine sites are in the process of achieving classification:
The art near Faia, occupies several vertical panels of granite. Two groups of authors were identified in this region, comprising 230 carvings from the Epipaleolithic
and Bronze Age
s.
The more archaic period of Côa corresponds to 137 rocks with 1000 carvings and rare paintings, by artists who concentrated on zoomorphic representations: equine (horses), bovine (aurochs), caprines and deer (the latter primarily associated with the final phase of the Magdalense period). There are also representations of fish, intermediary animals, along with a small group of geometric or abstract shapes (including lines and symbols in Penascosa and Canada do Inferno).
In one of the rarer depictions, there is a solitary anthropomorphic figure with phallus, dating to the Magdalenense period in the Ribeira de Piscos site. The artists motives are unclear, and the image appears isolated and over-drawn by other figures.
At the Rock Art Site of Faia, there are unique painted carvings, with ocre paint tracing the image and highlighting the nostrals and mouth of the figure. Other groups of carvings in Vale Carbões and Faia, dating from the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic, include zoomorphic designs, also painted with ocre.
There are also, Iron Age sites along the mouth of the Côa, in the valleys of the smaller ravine tributaries of the Douro. They include anthropomorphic figures and horses, in addition to some dogs, deer and birds, accompanied by weapons (swords, lances and shields). These armed warriors could represent scenes from battles or hunting parties. Generally, these images are stratified, with new designs drawn over the pre-existing carvings.
The last period of art dates from the modern era, and includes religious motifs, both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, in addition to inscriptions, dates, boats, trains, bridges, planes and landscapes.
The importance of this prehistorical art site remains its rareness and extension; although there are numerous prehistorical art sites in caves
, open-air sites are rarer (and only include Mazouco (Portugal
), Fornols-Haut (France
), Domingo García
and the Siega Verde
(both in Spain
). Yet, the importance of the Côa Valley is the extent of these designs, which extend sporadically in a space 17 kilometres. Archaeologists acknowledge sites like this as open-air sanctuaries
of prehistoric
humankind.
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
art
Prehistoric art
In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or it makes significant contact with another...
in northeastern Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
In the late 1980s, the engravings were discovered in Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Vila Nova de Foz Côa is a city and a municipality in the district of Guarda, Portugal, with a total population of 8,249 inhabitants. The city population is around 3,300.Main rivers in the municipal territory include the Douro and the Côa....
. The site in situated in the valley of the Côa River
Coa River
The Côa River is a tributary of the Douro River, in central and northeastern Portugal. It is one of the few Portuguese rivers that flows south to north...
, and comprises thousands of engraved drawings of horses, bovines and other animal, human and abstract figures, dated from 22,000 to 10,000 years BCE. Since 1995 a team of archaeologists have been studying and cataloging this pre-historical complex and a park was created to receive visitors.
History
There were further paintings dating back to the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
period of zoomorphic semi-naturalist design. Another phase of anthropomorphic designs were encountered during the Neolithic, that included also included zoomorphic designs that were both geometric and abstract. Anthropomorphic designs also appeared dating back to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
s that were primarily anthropomorphic in character.
Between the 5th and 1st centuries early organized humans were responsible for anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs that included weapons and symbols.
The final era of recorded rock art, corresponding to the 17th to 20th century, that include religious, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs, inscriptions and dates. The later part of these designs include representations of boats, trains, bridges, planes and representations of various scenes, including drawings completed by António Seixas and Alcino Tomé.
20th century
In the 20th century, the construction of the Pocinho Dam likely resulted in the immersion of many rock cliff drawings.By the 1990s, prospectors revealed a group of important Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic carvings in the lower part of the Côa Valley, likely in November 1991 by Nelson Rabanda (but which were only publihsed in November 1994). Later, António Martinho Baptista would determine that Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
carvings corresponded to Celtic-Iberian tribes, specifically the Medobrigenais or Zoilos. Some of the peoples identified, from this period, had not already been identified in other archaeological investigations.
In 1995, a plan to construct a dam was approved and principal work began in the Côa Valley. But, following the original discovery of rock art, an archaeologist had been investigating the kilometres long Côa valley under the direction of the national Portuguese energy producer (Energias de Portugal - EDP
Energias de Portugal
EDP - Energias de Portugal ranks among Europe's major electricity operators, as well as being one of Portugal's largest business groups....
) and the agency responsible for monitoring architectural patrimony (Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico - IPPAR
IPPAR
The Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico , former Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico , is the public institute tasked with the conservation, preservation, and inventory of the Portuguese architectural heritage. This includes buildings and sites of...
). Both agencies were aware of the prehistoric art along the Côa, much earlier then the general public and scientific community were informed. Archaeologist Nélson Rabanda, studying the site under an agreement between EDP and IPPAR, reported the case to the press, as well as other organizations interested in prehistoric art and patrimony, such as UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. There was an immediate move by EDP to disprove the age of the carvings, and thus continue their dam project.
The local scandal forced IPPAR to petition UNESCO for a review of the site, and Jean Clottes
Jean Clottes
Jean Clottes is a prominent French prehistorian. He was born in the French Pyrénées in 1933 and began to study archaeology in 1959, while teaching high school. He initially focused on Neolithic dolmens, which were the topic of his 1975 Ph.D. thesis at the University of Toulouse...
in December 1994 came to the region to investigate the discoveries. But, the UNESCO reports were not unanimous about whether or not the power plant should be built; Clottes, the head of prehistoric department, noted that rising water may protect the engravings from vandalism, but also confirmed that Coa Valley "is the biggest open air site of palaeolithic art in Europe, if not in the world". At the time, the number of carvings were limited and many suspected that many more had already been submerged by the previous Pocinho Dam project. This was proven by Nelson Rabanda who investigated the submerged Canada do Inferno site, finding several other examples. With little input from the national government on its status it came to invading archaeologists to finally discover other sites in the areas of Penascosa, Ribeira de Riscos, Quinta da Barca, Vermelhosa, Vale de José Esteves, among others, who quickly published their discoveries or promoted them on national media networks. A citizens group Movimento para a Salvação das Gravuras do Côa quickly appeared with their slogan "As gravuras não sabem nadar" (The carvings can't swim), which they plasterd on the side of the local secondary school.
A second UNESCO team, lead by Mounir Bouchenaki, director of the World Heritage branch, was sent to definitively conclude the case: his team determined that a great part of the carvings dated as far back as the Palaeolithic. The dam construction led to a scandal within Portuguese government and pressure from the international community, with the project being denounced in newspapers like The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
, as well as in the public broadcasters such as BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Meanwhile, after the visit of the UNESCO delegation, the IPPAR created an international scientific commission to accompany the study of the art in the Côa valley: a move that was controversial. It included António Beltrán, E. Anati and Jean Clottes, and met on time in May 1994, while EDP continued to promote other methods of "saving" the prehistoric art (such as creating moulds or carving the panels from the cliff faces), while still promoting the continuation of the dam project. EDP was also helped by the direct dating controversy; Robert Bednarik and Alan Watchman, in addition to Fred Phillips and Ronald Dorn, used an unproven methodology to affirm that the carvings were not Palaeolithic. These events did not please the archaeologists and the public, and a NIMBY
NIMBY
NIMBY or Nimby is an acronym for the phrase "not in my back yard". The term is used pejoratively to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them. Opposing residents themselves are sometimes called Nimbies...
movement towards the dam developed, which could only be resolved through a complete change in political thinking. This occurred with the 1995 Legislative elections
Portuguese legislative election, 1995
The Portuguese legislative election of 1995 took place on October 1. The Socialist Party defeated the Social Democratic Party under the lead of António Guterres, elected some months before, but missed the absolute majority by 4 MPs. The Social Democratic party under the lead of Fernando Nogueira...
that saw a change in government; under Prime Minister António Guterres
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, GCC is a Portuguese politician, a former prime minister and President of the Socialist International. Currently he is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.-Early life:...
the dam project was cancelled in November 1995.
A system of monitorization and conservation was established to protect the remnants; the events of the "Battle of Côa" were responsible for the constitution on May 1997, by the Ministry of Culture , the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology , the Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley , and the National Centre for Aquatic and Subaquatic Archaeology , was opened in August 1996, without legal authority.
The Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley were designated a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in 1998 (from an advisory board report on 25 June 1997).
In 2003, a study was begun to study the viability of introducing the Prewzalski species of horse, equivalent to those characterized in the Paleolithic rock art.
By May 2004, a public tender was commissioned by the Portuguese Order of Architects to design the Côa Museum (it was won by architects Tiago Pimentel and Camilo Rebelo). It was followed by a competition to construct the museum. On 26 January 2007, the Côa Museum construction was started with the placing of the first cornerstone by Minister of Culture, Isabel Pires de Lima, and work initiated by Monte Adiano.
Formal excavations began in Fariseu on 19 September 2005, completed in October, under the direction of Thierry Aubry, which discovered several slabs of schist (10 x 20 centimetres) dating to the Paleolithic.
The conference HERITAGE 2008 - World Heritage and Sustainable Development International Conference took place at Vila Nova de Foz Côa between 7–9 May 2008. The conference was conceived to examine the relationships between heritage and human development, and the natural environment and building preservation, and promoted significant discussion, organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture .
In August 2010, the World Heritage Committee extended the UNESCO world heritage extension to neighbouring site of Siega Verde
Siega Verde
Siega Verde is an archaeological site in the municipality of Villar de la Yegua, in the province of Salamanca, Spain. It was added to the Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site in the World Heritage List in 2010....
in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The Siega Verde Archaeological, with comparable carvings/etchings in 94 panels along a 15 kilometre stretch across the border includes over 500 representations. Its dating to the similar period, allowed its inclusion in the world designation with the Côa Valley sites.
Geography
The prehistoric site can be accessed from EN102 motorway (Vila Nova de Foz Côa-Celorico da Beira), via Muxagata, or alternately via the EN222 motorway (Vila Nova de Foz Côa-Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo) detouring from Castelo Melhor. The territory includes parts of the municipalities of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Mêda, Pinhel and Vila Nova de Foz Côa.The lower portion of Côa River Valley runs south to north, at about 130 metres above sea level, spread over an area of 17 km (10.56 mi) of the lower Côa river valley. The watercourse is flanked by rolling/undulating hills, surrounded by rare species of river brush, vineyards, olive and almond trees, with the higher elevations occupied by pasturelands and fields. At about the 17 kilometre mark, there relief is rocky with granite and schist outcroppings common.
The Prehistoric Rock Art Sites of the Côa Valley are actually 23 sites with engravings or paintings, along the last 17 kilometres of the River Côa (with ten sites located along the left bank and eight on the right bank of the river). In addition five sites are located along the tributaries along the Douro River, constituted into three different nuclei: Faia, Quinta da Barca and Penacosa, along the mouth of the Ribeira de Piscos, in an area of 20,000 hectares.
Of the 23 archaeological sites, 14 are classified:
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Broeira (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Canada do Inferno/Rego da Vide (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Faia (Pinhel)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Faia/Vale Afonsinho (Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Fonte Frieira (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Meijapão (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Penascosa (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Quinta da Barca (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Quinta do Fariseu (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Ribeirinha (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Ribeira de Piscos/Quinta dos Poios (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Vale da Figueira/Teixugo (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Vale de Moinhos (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Vale dos Namorados (Vila Nova de Foz Côa)
Nine sites are in the process of achieving classification:
- Alto da Bulha
- Canada da Moreira
- Moinhos de Cima
- Vale de Cabrões
- Vale da Casa
- Vale de Forno
- Vale de José Esteves
- Vale de Videiro
- Vermelhosa
Art
The prehistoric art is either carved, incised or picked, combining various techniques, but rarely painted, utilizing the vertical schist slabs as canvass. These schist rocks, along the northern part of the Côa River, are large drawings in contrast with smaller depictions in other parts of the region. Their size vary between 15 cm (5.91 in) and 180 cm (70.87 in), but most are 40-50 centimetres in extension, often forming panels and compositions. The style often features bold lines, but many are touched with fine, thin lines.The art near Faia, occupies several vertical panels of granite. Two groups of authors were identified in this region, comprising 230 carvings from the Epipaleolithic
Epipaleolithic
The Epipaleolithic Age was a period in the development of human technology marked by more advanced stone blades and other tools than the earlier Paleolithic age, although still before the development of agriculture in the Neolithic age...
and Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
s.
The more archaic period of Côa corresponds to 137 rocks with 1000 carvings and rare paintings, by artists who concentrated on zoomorphic representations: equine (horses), bovine (aurochs), caprines and deer (the latter primarily associated with the final phase of the Magdalense period). There are also representations of fish, intermediary animals, along with a small group of geometric or abstract shapes (including lines and symbols in Penascosa and Canada do Inferno).
In one of the rarer depictions, there is a solitary anthropomorphic figure with phallus, dating to the Magdalenense period in the Ribeira de Piscos site. The artists motives are unclear, and the image appears isolated and over-drawn by other figures.
At the Rock Art Site of Faia, there are unique painted carvings, with ocre paint tracing the image and highlighting the nostrals and mouth of the figure. Other groups of carvings in Vale Carbões and Faia, dating from the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic, include zoomorphic designs, also painted with ocre.
There are also, Iron Age sites along the mouth of the Côa, in the valleys of the smaller ravine tributaries of the Douro. They include anthropomorphic figures and horses, in addition to some dogs, deer and birds, accompanied by weapons (swords, lances and shields). These armed warriors could represent scenes from battles or hunting parties. Generally, these images are stratified, with new designs drawn over the pre-existing carvings.
The last period of art dates from the modern era, and includes religious motifs, both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, in addition to inscriptions, dates, boats, trains, bridges, planes and landscapes.
The importance of this prehistorical art site remains its rareness and extension; although there are numerous prehistorical art sites in caves
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
, open-air sites are rarer (and only include Mazouco (Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
), Fornols-Haut (France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), Domingo García
Domingo García
Domingo García is a municipality located in the province of Segovia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 50 inhabitants....
and the Siega Verde
Siega Verde
Siega Verde is an archaeological site in the municipality of Villar de la Yegua, in the province of Salamanca, Spain. It was added to the Côa Valley Paleolithic Art site in the World Heritage List in 2010....
(both in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
). Yet, the importance of the Côa Valley is the extent of these designs, which extend sporadically in a space 17 kilometres. Archaeologists acknowledge sites like this as open-air sanctuaries
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
of prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
humankind.