The Praileaitz Cave ( Basque for ''Rock of the Monk'' cave) is located in the municipality of

Deba Deba may refer to: Geography * Deba (crater), a crater on Mars * Deba (river), a river in the Basque Country * Deba, Gipuzkoa, a town in the Basque Country * Deba, Gombe, a town in the Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Nigeria ...

(

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

). Early in August 2006, various paleolithic cave paintings were found during an archaeological excavation - a non-figurative iconographic grouping made up of smaller groups of red dots, either isolated or forming a series. Researchers have surmised that the paintings were created c. 18,000 years BP. The cave also yielded an unusual set of portable art on pebbles, with abstract forms that, in one case, suggested to the researchers resembled the Venus figurines found elsewhere in

Paleolithic Europe Paleolithic Europe, or Old Stone Age Europe, encompasses the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age in Europe from the arrival of the first archaic humans, about 1.4 million years ago until the beginning of the Mesolithic (also Epipaleolithic) around 10,000 ...

. It was dated to the Lower

Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...

period of the

Cro-Magnon Early European modern humans (EEMH), or Cro-Magnons, were the first early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') to settle in Europe, migrating from Western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They ...

people.

Protection concerns

The cave is located next to the Sasiola Quarry, which presents a threat to the conservation of the paintings. On May 24, 2007, the Aranzadi Science Society proposed the establishment of a wide protective area around the cave. On July 17, 2007, the Basque Government adopted (with Ezker Batua and Eusko Alkartasuna voting against) a decree that established a 50-meter protective area around the "rock sanctuary." This level of protection was deemed insufficient by the Aranzadi Science Society, which was in charge of the archaeological excavation and studying the cave paintings.

External links

Cave paintings, discovered in Deba, Gipuzkoa

Praileaitz Cave Paintings Threatened by Mining

(in Spanish, news of the finding, with nice images)
Terrae Antiquae: ''Praileaitz''
(in Spanish) Archaeological sites in Spain Prehistoric sites in Spain Caves of Spain Basque history Landforms of the Basque Country (autonomous community) Art of the Upper Paleolithic {{BasqueCountry-geo-stub