Copyright 2001 The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post
July 22, 2001 Sunday
Final Edition
SECTION: TRAVEL; Pg. E04
LENGTH: 655 words
HEADLINE: The World's Newest Ancient Cave Art
BODY:
What: The just-opened replica of the Altamira cave, one of the world's premier examples of prehistoric art.
Where: The Cantabria region of northern Spain.
Why: Because unless you have three years to kill, you're not getting into the real thing.
The cave's surface appears to be wet, as if the paintings adorning its walls were just completed. Charcoal-and-ochre bison, deer and other animals are full of life, with graceful strokes of red, black and yellow creating the sense that the herd is in motion. Cryptic symbols intermingle with the animals, and in one corner two handprints seem to reach out to visitors. Other animals charge across the ceiling.
The images seem ancient. But, in fact, this representation of a primitive herd was painted over the past few years and is the centerpiece of a project in the works for almost a decade: a replica of Spain's Altamira cave, the Sistine Chapel of late Paleolithic art, which opened last week.
Altamira is one of the world's most important and best-preserved examples of prehistoric art. No one knows exactly what meaning the 14,000-year-old polychrome paintings had for early man, but it is certain that the art paid tribute to the animals they depended on. Deeper in the cave, there are more etchings and monochrome paintings, some of which may date back 18,000 years.
Discovered by chance in 1869, the Altamira cave was a popular tourist destination throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s, with about 177,000 people visiting the cave in 1973 alone. The crowds proved damaging to the fragile masterpieces, and in 1977, Altamira closed. In 1982, it was reopened, but with a strictly enforced limit of 8,500 people a year. Today, there's a three-year waiting list to get in.
Just a few hundred feet from the original, the faux Altamira is far more than a mere reproduction. Located in a sleek, 47,000-square-foot building, the replica shares space with a library, an exhibit on prehistoric man in northern Spain, and video presentations depicting scenes of prehistoric life. Up to a half-million visitors are expected annually.
"Even people with a deep knowledge of prehistory can find something in the new cave," says Jose A. Lasheras, director of the Altamira Museum and Investigation Center. "We're going to be able to give a bigger picture of the people that created Altamira."
Every crack, crevice and outcropping of Altamira's main chamber has been faithfully reproduced. Molded and painted in Madrid, then transported to Altamira for painstaking assembly in February, the cave is made from a specially designed compound that resembles the original limestone. It's so real, says Lasheras, that some bats tried to roost in it during construction.
The artistic precision is the work of two prehistoric art experts, Matilde Muzquiz Perez-Seoane and her husband, Pedro A. Saura Ramos. Using the same materials -- iron oxides, vegetable carbons and water -- the artists-scholars were able to determine the techniques and even the hand motions the Altamira artists used in creating their works.
Lasheras maintains that the fabricated Altamira isn't a substitute for the original, but rather a way to preserve it. However, he hopes that the comprehensive nature of the new project will help dispel the myth that early man merely scratched out a barbaric existence in a brutal world.
"They didn't just survive," he says. "They lived."
-- Matt Hilburn
The Altamira caves are about 1.25 miles from Santillana del Mar in the Cantabria region of northern Spain. There is regular bus service (about $ 2) to Santillana from Santander, the capital of the region. (Visit http://turismo.cantabria.org/siting for info on the area.) Admission to the new cave and museum, open daily, is about $ 2. To be placed on the waiting list for the original cave ($ 2), fax the Altamira Museum and Investigation Center (011-34-942-840-157); the center will not take phone requests for visits.
LOAD-DATE: July 22, 2001