The Cova de la Font Major in Catalonia has been identified as the third-largest known Palaeolithic cave art assemblage along the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula. Modern explorers, speleologists, and tourists had navigated the cave since 1957 without detecting the prehistoric artwork. Researchers finally recognized the art after identifying distinctive scrapings and incisions in the marl rock layers of the Gatoneres de Cal Palletes section. The site features an unusually dense collection of 55 animal depictions, including a bear, alongside non-figurative geometric lines.
Key points
The site now represents the third-largest Palaeolithic cave art assemblage along the Medi…: The site now represents the third-largest Palaeolithic cave art assemblage along the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula.
Containing 55 zoomorphic figures such as a bear, the cave holds an unusually high concent…: Containing 55 zoomorphic figures such as a bear, the cave holds an unusually high concentration of animal depictions for the Mediterranean region.
This discovery dramatically reshapes regional archaeology, as northeastern Spain previous…: This discovery dramatically reshapes regional archaeology, as northeastern Spain previously had only two recorded Palaeolithic cave art representations.
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Not all art is exhibited or put on display. Some of it remains hidden in plain sight, etched into rock and can go unnoticed for centuries, even when people have been walking past them for decades. In a cave in Spain, hundreds of such engravings has now opened up new avenues of research, offering archaeologists a fresh understanding of the prehistoric artistic traditions of the Iberian Peninsula.
A research conducted by Josep Maria Vergès Bosch and Míriam Salas-Altès of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), was
published in Antiquity on 5 November 2026. This report notes the cave to now be the 3rd largest known Palaeolithic cave art assemblage along the Mediterranean side of the Iberian Peninsula.
The discovery has brought close attention to the Cova de la Font Major in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, where archaeologists have identified 280 Palaeolithic motifs, including motifs of animals and several non-figurative designs. Interestingly, people were aware of this cave before, and it was open to visitors as well. People have been visiting Cova de la Font Major since at…
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