, population_note = , population_density_km2 = auto , blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s) , blank_info_sec1 = Spanish , timezone =

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast Ente ...

, utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST =

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

, utc_offset_DST = +2 , postal_code_type =

Postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal a ...

, postal_code = , area_code_type = Dialing code , area_code = , leader_title =

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, leader_name = Alejandro Sáez García (2010) , leader_party =

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, website = , footnotes = Puente Viesgo is a municipality in

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

, Spain. Caves have been discovered near Puente Viesgo that contain

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

and artefacts dating back to the Middle and

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...

History

The various populations of Puente Viesgo (Viesgo Bridge) are documented since the year 1000 by the abbey of

Santillana del Mar Santillana del Mar () is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Its many historic buildings attract thousands of holidaymakers every year. There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is ''The Town of Three Lies'', since it is neither a ...

. These documents describe a bridge over the river Pas, from which comes the name of the municipality.

Caves of Monte Castillo

The

Cave of El Castillo The Cueva del Castillo, or Cave of the Castle, is an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, in Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain. The archaeological stratigraphy has been divided into around 19 layers, depending o ...

was discovered in 1903 by the Spanish archaeologist Hermilio Alcalde del Río and was first explored and excavated by the German

prehistorian Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

Hugo Obermaier Hugo Obermaier (29 January 1877, in Regensburg – 12 November 1946, in Fribourg) was a distinguished Spanish-German prehistorian and anthropologist who taught at various European centres of learning. Although he was born in Germany, he was later n ...

, with further excavation taking place in 1980. There are paintings of bison and horses, and large numbers of handprints, made by blowing mineral particles onto a hand pressed against the cave wall. These are believed to be the oldest examples of rock art in the region. They could not be dated by radiocarbon techniques because the pigments contained no organic matter, but were dated by assessing the age of the calcium carbonate deposit that had formed over the surface. One red disc was found to be 40,800 years old. Another cave nearby is the

Cueva de las Monedas Cuevas or Cueva (Spanish for "''cave(s)''") may refer to: Places * Cueva de Ágreda, a municipality located in the province of Soria, Castile and León, Spain * Cuevas Bajas, a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonom ...

. The paintings here are black, being made with coal, and depict horses, goats, bears, bison and reindeer. The pictures of reindeer are believed to date back to the last ice age, about 13,000 years ago. Also in the municipality is the

Cueva de La Pasiega Cueva de La Pasiega, or Cave of La Pasiega, situated in the Spanish municipality of Puente Viesgo, is one of the most important monuments of Paleolithic art in Cantabria. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2008, as part o ...

, part of the World Heritage Site that includes the "Cave of Altamira and palaeolithic cave art of Northern Spain".

Geography

Puente Viesgo is in the valley of the River Pas and is located in the central part of Cantabria, about west of the regional capital,

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

. It is surrounded by the verdant countryside of the coastal strip and lies between the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...

to the north and the

Cantabrian Mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, th ...

to the south. The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture but now many people are employed in the tourist industry. The municipality consists of the villages, Aés, Hijas, Las Presillas, Puente Viesgo and Vargas. The population at the last census was 2,800, giving a density of 78 inhabitants per square kilometre.

Gallery

File:Cueva de las Monedas.jpg, Cave of Las Monedas File:Cueva de El Haza.jpg, Cave of El Haza File:IMAGE 00054.jpg, Old houses in Puente Viesgo File:La Pasiega-Galería A-1er Santuario.png,

Cave of La Pasiega Cueva de La Pasiega, or Cave of La Pasiega, situated in the Spanish municipality of Puente Viesgo, is one of the most important monuments of Paleolithic art in Cantabria. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2008, as part o ...

References

{{authority control Municipalities in Cantabria Caves of Cantabria