La Pasiega Cave
Cueva de La Pasiega · Puente Viesgo Caves
Middle Paleolithic to Magdalenian ~64–11 ka BP·Neanderthal and later Solutrean/Magdalenian·🇪🇸 Cantabria, Spain
About
About La Pasiega Cave
Complex karst system of galleries A–D in Monte Castillo, Puente Viesgo. Preserves >700 motifs spanning 64,000–11,000 BP, including the scalariform ladder dated to 64,000 BP by U-Th (Hoffmann et al. 2018) implying Neanderthal authorship, plus Solutrean hinds, horses and aurochs. Gallery B and D stalagmite-draped walls show superposition of red dots, claviforms and animal figures over 50 kyr.
Why it mattersOldest dated cave painting in the world if Neanderthal attribution holds; 50 kyr continuity archive.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 0164 ka ladder authorship – Neanderthal vs early sapiens
- 02Meaning of claviform symbols associated with hinds
Theories
- 01Neanderthal symbolic behavior preceding sapiens
- 02Hind-centered Cantabrian cosmology
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.64,000 BP (Neanderthal) to 11,000 BP
- Period
- Middle Paleolithic to Magdalenian ~64–11 ka BP
- Culture
- Neanderthal and later Solutrean/Magdalenian
- Builders
- Neanderthals (earliest) then Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens
- Purpose
- Long-lived painted sanctuary with scalariform and animal panels
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.64,000 BP (Neanderthal) to 11,000 BP
Initial construction
c. 1473 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
43.2894° N · 3.9667° W · 90 m · 2 mapped features
Gallery C Ladder
painting panel64 ka scalariform ladder with U-Th crust
43.2895° N · 3.9665° WGallery B Hind Panel
painting panelRed hind and tectiforms
43.2893° N · 3.9669° W
Gallery