Ekain Cave

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The Great Wall (copy in Ekainberri)

The Ekain Cave is a Paleolithic cave in the Spanish Autonomous Community of the Basque Country , on the area of ​​the city of Deva , about 40 km west of San Sebastián and belongs to the region of the Franco-Cantabrian cave art .

cave

In 1969, cave paintings and cave drawings were discovered showing horses , ibex , bison , deer , bears and a salmon , among other things . The prehistoric works of art come from the archaeological cultural stage of Magdalenian . The cave was never open to the public and therefore no changes had to be made for tourist development.

Archaeological excavations took place from 1969 to 1975. Different layers of settlement were discovered. The oldest date from the earliest Upper Paleolithic, more than 30,600 years ago. Numerous artifacts made of bone and stone have been found.

The Ekain Cave has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site "Paleolithic Cave Paintings in Northern Spain" since July 2008 (K / 1985: Altamira Cave ; expanded in 2008)

Nearby (about 10 km away) is the Altxerri Cave .

Since September 17th, 2008 a new excavation of the Paleolithic settlement at the cave entrance has been taking place, which is led by Jesús Altuna.

Ekainberri Museum

Horses (copy in Ekainberri)

A copy of the picture cave named "Ekainberri" (in German: Neues Ekain) has existed since September 11, 2008. This museum was created to make the cave paintings accessible to the public, as was the case with the Lascaux and Altamira caves . The replica is completely darkened and can only be entered with a guided tour. Tours are only available in Spanish and Basque. Since the images are highlighted by spotlights, you can also follow it with a basic knowledge of Spanish.

In addition to the replica of the cave, there is another room with photos, objects and some films to discover the cave. In addition, a demonstration will show how to color the walls, how to ignite fire with flint and bows, as well as how to use lances, arrows and arrow slings.

How to get there: Since there is only a single-lane, approx. 3 m wide road leading to the museum, vehicles must be parked in the nearby town of Zestoa. There are three parking spaces for the disabled in front of the museum.

See also

literature

  • Jesús Altuna, Amelia Baldeon, Koro Mariezurrentena, Pedro Diaz de González: Ekain and Altxerri near San Sebastian. Two paleolithic picture caves in the Spanish Basque Country . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart 1996. ISBN 3799590021

Web links


Coordinates: 43 ° 14 ′ 11.6 "  N , 2 ° 16 ′ 32.4"  W.