If you are passionate about Prehistory, tomorrow, Friday, June 2, you have a must-see (admission is free until full capacity is reached) at the Arroyo de la Miel Public Library. At 7:00 p.m. you will be able to know, first hand, the evidence of the life of erectus, neanderthals and sapiens in the province of Malaga by the hand of Pedro Cantalejo, coordinator of the Natural and Historical Heritage of the Guadalteba Region and linked to the conservation and management of the prehistoric site of the Cueva de Ardales.
Cantalejo will share with the attendees the latest research results on the Paleolithic human occupations of Malaga, at a time when all of Europe looks to our caves as a point of scientific interest to better understand the replacement of Neanderthal human groups by sapiens.
Approximately 5 years ago, a group of archaeologists focused their research on several caves in our country, specifically in La Pasiega in Cantabria, Maltravieso in Cáceres and Ardales in Málaga. They discovered cave paintings consisting of negative dots, lines and hands, which they deduced were Neanderthal authorship.
Those conclusions aroused a stir among the scientific community since there were those who doubted the capacity for symbolic thought of the Neardenatals. Last year, a more ambitious investigation was undertaken in the Cueva de Ardales that managed to establish a definitive occupation chronology, the result of which brought to light that it was used by both Neanderthals and modern humans, reaffirming the cave painting theory published by Science magazine by those experts years ago.
In Benalmádena, something similar happens to us in the Cueva del Toro, whose paintings could prove that the Neanderthals, 65,000 years ago, already used graphic communication in our municipality. After more than 50 years since its discovery, the University of Cádiz and the Benalmádena City Council have responded to the call for help of this archaeological treasure and through research within a more ambitious project called First Art, (since they precisely seek to find the primer arte), directed by Hipólito Collado, -in which some thirty researchers from Spain, Portugal, England, Italy, Germany and China participate- will turn our site into a spearhead in research in the province of Malaga and Andalusia.
The talk at the Arroyo de la Miel Library is free to enter until full capacity is reached and is part of the cycle of the center of interest Travel with us.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT PREHISTORY IN BENALMÁDENA:
- Did the Neanderthals leave a painted message in the Cueva del Toro 65,000 years ago?
- New technologies bring to light “ghost” rock art in the Cueva del Toro in Benalmádena
- A UCA investigation into the Cueva del Toro could change the history of Benalmádena
- Benalmádena, land of encounter and dialogue between cultures since the end of Prehistory
- Carbon 14 dating of three seeds confirms that the settlement of the Era is 2,900 years old
