Category Archives: EUROPE

EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, interiors of which covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, the interiors of which were covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, the interiors of which were covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

Archaeologists of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms made of sun-dried brick, the interiors of which were covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art.

The discovery was made at the Old Dongola medieval monastery on the banks of the Nile, more than 500 km north of Khartoum.

Old Dongola (Tungul in Old Nubian) was the capital of Makuria, one of the most prominent medieval African states. It had converted to Christianity by the end of the sixth century, but Egypt was conquered by Islamic armies in the seventh century.

An Arab army invaded in 651 but was repulsed, and the Baqt Treaty was signed, establishing relative peace between the two sides that lasted until the 13th century.

The discovery was made during the exploration of houses dating from the Funj period (16th-19th century CE). Within the main monastic complex, the Polish mission unearthed now a second, well-preserved church with vivid mural paintings and inscriptions in Greek and Old Nubian.

The scene with King David. Photo: Adrian Chlebowski

Surprisingly, beneath the floor of one of the houses was an opening leading to a small chamber with walls decorated with unique representations.

The paintings inside depicted the Mother of God, Christ, and a scene with a Nubian king, Christ, and Archangel Michael. This was not, however, a typical depiction of a Nubian ruler under the protection of saints or archangels.

The king bows and kisses the hand of Christ, who is seated in the clouds. The ruler is aided by Archangel Michael, whose spread wings protect both the king and Christ. Such a scene finds no parallels in Nubian painting.

The representation’s dynamism and intimacy contrast with the hieratic nature of the figures depicted on the side walls. Similarly, the figure of the Virgin Mary on the north wall of the chamber does not fit into the standard repertoire of Mary depictions in Nubian art.

The Mother of God is dressed in dark robes and strikes a dignified pose. She has a cross and a book in her hands. On the opposite wall, Christ is depicted. His right hand is shown in a blessing gesture, and his left hand is holding a book, which is only partially preserved.

Dr. Agata Deptua of PCMA UW is currently studying the inscriptions that accompany the paintings. A preliminary reading of the Greek inscriptions revealed that they were texts from the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts.

The main scene is accompanied by an inscription in Old Nubian that is extremely difficult to decipher. The researchers learned from a preliminary reading by Dr. Vincent van Gerven Oei that it contains several references to a king named David as well as a prayer to God for the protection of the city.

Restoration work on the wall paintings. Photo: Dawid Szymanski

The city mentioned in the inscription is most likely Dongola, and the royal figure depicted in the scene is most likely King David. David was one of Christian Makuria’s last rulers, and his reign signaled the beginning of the kingdom’s demise. For unknown reasons, King David attacked Egypt, which retaliated by invading Nubia, resulting in Dongola being sacked for the first time in its history.

Researchers think that the painting may have been made while the Mamluk army was approaching or the city was under siege.

The complex of rooms where the paintings were discovered, however, is what stumps people the most. The actual spaces, which are made of dried brick and covered in vaults and domes, are quite small. Although the painted room that depicts King David is seven meters above the medieval ground level, it looks like a crypt.

The structure is next to a sacred structure known as the Great Church of Jesus, which was likely Dongola’s cathedral and the most significant church in the Makurian kingdom.

According to Arab sources, the Great Church of Jesus instigated King David’s attack on Egypt and the capture of the ports of Aidhab and Aswan.

These and other inquiries about the enigmatic structure may be answered by further excavations. However, safeguarding the distinctive wall paintings was the main goal for this season. Following the discovery, conservators got to work under the supervision of Magdalena Skaryska, MA.

The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, the University of Warsaw, and the Department of Conservation and Restoration of Works of Art of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw collaborated to operate the conservation team.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Roman girl adorned with 1800-year-old jewelry found in a lead coffin on Mount Scopus

Roman girl adorned with 1800-year-old jewelry found in a lead coffin on Mount Scopus

Roman girl adorned with 1800-year-old jewelry found in a lead coffin on Mount Scopus

“After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the exodus of the Jewish population, late Roman Jerusalem—renamed Aelia Capitolina—had a mixed population. During this period, some young girls were buried and adorned with fine gold jewelry.

The jewelrys was discovered in a lead coffin on Mount Scopus during excavations led by late archaeologist Yael Adler of the Israel Department of Antiquities.

The find included gold earrings, a hairpin, a gold pendant, gold beads, carnelian beads, and a glass bead, according to the IAA.

The jewels were discovered in 1971, in an excavation carried out by Yael Adler (deceased) of the Israel Department of Antiquities but the finds were not published.

The jewels were recently located as part of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s “Publication of Past Excavations Project,” which aims to publish previously incomplete excavation reports.

Impressive gold jewelry discovered in previous excavations in Jerusalem burial caves will be on display for the first time to the public at the 48th Archaeological Congress, organized by the Israel Antiquities Authority, the Israel Exploration Society, and the Israel Archaeological Association.

The congress will take place at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel, now inaugurated in Jerusalem.

“The location of the original reports that gathered dust over the years in the Israel Antiquities Authority archives, and physically tracing the whereabouts of the items themselves, has shed light on long-forgotten treasures,” says Dr. Ayelet Dayan, Head of the Archaeological Research Department, who heads this project. “The beautiful jewelry that we researched is an example of such treasures.”

Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Dr. Ayelet Dayan, Dr. Ayelet Gruber, and Dr. Yuval Baruch, believe that the priceless objects bearing the symbols of Luna, the Roman moon goddess, accompanied the girls during their lifetimes and were buried with them after they passed away to continue to protect them in the afterlife.

Their investigation revealed that Prof. Vassilios Tzaferis had found two pairs of identical gold earrings in a previous excavation on the Mount of Olives for the Department of Antiquities in 1975.

The finds, according to researchers, are from a time after Jerusalem had almost entirely been destroyed following the siege of 70 CE.

The pagan Roman deities Jupiter and others received special honors in Hadrian’s new city. At that time, Jews were forbidden from entering Jerusalem under penalty of death because the city was occupied by Roman legionaries.

“It seems that the girl was buried with an expensive set of gold jewelry that included earrings, a chain with a lunula pendant (named after the goddess Luna), and a hairpin,” say the researchers.

“These items of jewelry are known in the Roman world, and are characteristic of young girl burials, possibly providing evidence of the people who were buried at these sites,” the researchers said.

“Late Roman Jerusalem—renamed Aelia Capitolina—had a mixed population that reached the city after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the evacuation of the Jewish population.

People from different parts of the Roman Empire settled in the city, bringing with them a different set of values, beliefs, and rituals. The pagan cult of the city’s new population was rich and varied, including gods and goddesses, among them the cult of the moon goddess Luna.”

According to researchers, gold jewelry was used as an amulet against the evil eye by young pagan girls nearly 1,800 years ago. The jewelry was buried with the girls to continue protecting them in the afterlife.

“The interring of the jewelry together with the young girl is touching,” said IAA Director Eli Escusido. “One can imagine that their parents or relatives parted from the girl, either adorned with the jewelry or possibly lying by her side and thinking of the protection that the jewelry provided in the world to come.

This is a very human situation, and all can identify with the need to protect one’s offspring, whatever the culture or the period.”

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Mysterious mosaics depicting Medusa uncovered at 2nd-century Roman villa

Mysterious mosaics depicting Medusa uncovered at 2nd-century Roman villa

Mysterious mosaics depicting Medusa uncovered at 2nd-century Roman villa
Restorers Maria Teresa and Roberto Civetta work on a mosaic at the Villa of the Antonines archaeological project, directed by Deborah Chatr Aryamontri and Timothy Renner of the Center for Heritage and Archaeological Studies at Montclair State University.

While excavating a villa used by ancient Roman emperors in Italy, archaeologists uncovered something unexpected: two mosaics that depict the Greek mythological figure Medusa, whose hair was made of snakes and whose gaze was said could turn people into stone. 

The team found the mosaics in a circular room in the Villa of the Antonines, so called because it was used by members of the Antonine dynasty who ruled the Roman Empire from A.D. 138 to 193.

The mosaics likely date to the second century A.D. the researchers said at a presentation at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, which was held in New Orleans in January. 

In both mosaics, Medusa is looking off into the distance, perhaps leaving observers to wonder, “What are these ladies thinking?” Timothy Renner, a professor of classics and general humanities at Montclair State University in New Jersey and co-director of the team that is excavating the site, said during the presentation. 

The team found the Medusa mosaics within two niches cut into a circular room at the villa — one in the northwest part of the room and another in the southeast part. The room had two other niches, but no mosaic remains were found in them. 

It’s still a mystery what this room was used for and why it contained Medusa mosaics. However, it “definitely must have been quite impressive to enter the room,” Deborah Chatr Aryamontri an associate professor of classics and general humanities at Montclair State University and co-director of the team, said during an interview with Live Science, noting that the room is around 69 feet (21 meters) in diameter. 

“Finding those mosaics [was] a pleasant surprise,” Chatr Aryamontri said, noting that many of the villa’s most impressive decorations were removed during the 18th and 19th centuries. 

In the second century, Medusa heads were popular decorative features in the Roman world, the researchers said. It’s not certain if the villa’s owners ordered them specifically or whether they were created on the whim of the artist who worked on the room. 

The Antonine dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between the reigns of Emperors Antoninus Pius (reign A.D. 138-161) and Commodus (reign A.D. 177-192) The villa is immense and even has what appears to have been an amphitheater used by Emperor Commodus for gladiator practice and the killing of wild beasts. (Commodus sometimes participated in gladiator fights.) 

The circular room appears to be in an area where people resided in the villa. One possibility is that it was a reception room. Chatr Aryamontri and Renner told Live Science that this is uncertain and they are not even sure if the circular room had a roof. 

Site disturbance

One challenge for modern archaeologists is that there is a large amount of damage and disturbance at the site. In the past, the area where the villa is located in Italy was looted and used for dumping. Also, during World War II, the site was in a strategic location that saw considerable movement of troops. “We actually find some World War II artifacts” during excavation of the villa, Chatr Aryamontri said. 

A photograph of the area taken in the early 20th century shows Roman concrete walls that are above ground, but they have since suffered damage or are now destroyed, Renner said. 

A small portion of the circular room with mosaics was first found in 2014, and excavation and analysis have continued since then. The team hopes to help create an archaeological park at the villa’s location someday. 

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Was Stonehenge an ancient calendar? A new study says no

Was Stonehenge an ancient calendar? A new study says no

Was Stonehenge an ancient calendar? A new study says no
A new paper reports that Stonehenge wasn’t a prehistoric calendar but a part of a prehistoric ceremonial landscape built in memory of the ancestral dead, a new paper reports.

Stonehenge wasn’t a prehistoric solar calendar but served mainly as a memorial to the dead, according to new research by scientists who study ancient astronomy.

The first stones at Stonehenge were emplaced in southern England about 5,000 years ago, and the monument was constructed in stages over roughly 1,000 years. But researchers have debated its purpose for centuries. The new study, published March 23 in the journal Antiquity, disputes claims made last year that it functioned as a solar calendar with 356.25 days — almost exactly the measurement used for the solar calendar today, according to that study’s author, Timothy Darvill, a professor of archaeology and Stonehenge expert at Bournemouth University in the U.K. 

Darvill’s interpretation has been rejected by two scientists — mathematician Giulio Magli of the Polytechnic of Milan and astronomer Juan Antonio Belmonteof the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands — who say Stonehenge wasn’t accurate enough to serve as a solar calendar.

Darvill told Live Science in an email that he still stands by the interpretation. But Magli and Belmonte say in their latest study that last year’s finding is “based … on “a series of forced interpretations, numerology, and unsupported analogies with other cultures.”

“From a symbolic point of view, Stonehenge is of course related to celestial phenomena,” Magli told Live Science, noting its celebrated alignments with the midwinter and midsummer solstices. But “this is far from saying it was used as a giant calendar,” he said.

The first stone megaliths at Stonehenge were placed about 5,000 years ago.

Ancient stones

In his March 2022 study in the journal Antiquity, Darvill wrote that the ring of giant “sarsen” stones (derived from the medieval English word “saracen,” meaning “pagan”) emplaced at Stonehenge in about 2500 B.C. may have functioned as a solar calendar, perhaps for determining feast days or for reinforcing political power by demonstrating a “control” of the cosmos.

For example, archaeologists think there were originally 30 standing stones in the main circle at Stonehenge — although only 17 now remain — and Darvill argued they could have corresponded to a “month” of 30 days; while the inner five “trilithons” — two standing stones capped by a lintel stone — may have represented the five days of each year left over after counting off 12 months.

The design of Stonehenge could have been influenced by solar calendars used at that time in the Near East — the ancient Egyptian calendar among them — which would imply a cultural connection between them, perhaps by long-distance travelers, Darvill added.

But Magli and Belmonte argue that the circle of standing stones wasn’t accurate enough to determine the length of the year; that nothing at Stonehenge embodies the 12 months of the year; and that there is no evidence of a cultural exchange between ancient Britain and the ancient Near East.

Archaeologist Michael Parker Pearson of University College London, a Stonehenge expert who wasn’t involved in the research, agrees with the authors of the latest study that there’s no good evidence of cultural connections between Stonehenge and ancient solar cults in the Near East. “Ideas like this about long-distance links have been around for over a century [but] are not taken seriously anymore,” he told Live Science in an email. 

Megalithic monument

Archaeologists now think Stonehenge’s main purpose was as part of a prehistoric ceremonial landscape built in memory of ancestral dead; excavations show that many different parts of the vast megalithic complex were used for burials for hundreds of years. Magli said this may explain its alignment with the winter solstice, which seems to have been an important annual date relating to the dead in some prehistoric religions. But while the annual solstice alignment is evident, the relatively low number of stones and their imprecision meant Stonehenge would have been too inaccurate to use as a calendar, he said.

Darvill said that the latest criticisms do not refute the suggestions made in his 2022 paper.

“What they say does not undermine the essential model of the sarsen structures at Stonehenge being constructed as a manifestation of a perpetual solar calendar,” he told Live Science in an email.

But some archaeologists share some of the reservations of Magli and Belmonte and are unconvinced by Darvill’s idea.

Matt Leivers, a consultant archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology in the U.K., has studied Stonehenge for decades but wasn’t involved in either study. “All this really shows is how easy it is to read calendrical divisions into Stonehenge’s architecture, and how unprovable any of it is,” he told Live Science in an email.

EUROPE, SCOTLAND, WORLD

Tartan Recovered From Scottish Bog Dated to the 16th Century

Tartan Recovered From Scottish Bog Dated to the 16th Century

Tartan Recovered From Scottish Bog Dated to the 16th Century
The Glen Affric tartan will be exhibited for the first time at V&A Dundee’s Tartan exhibition from 1 April

A scrap of fabric found in a Highland peat bog 40 years ago is likely to be the oldest tartan ever discovered in Scotland, new tests have established.

The fabric is believed to have been created in about the 16th Century, making it more than 400 years old. It was found in a Glen Affric peat bog, in the Highlands, in the early 1980s.

The Scottish Tartans Authority (STA) commissioned dye analysis and radiocarbon testing of the textile to prove its age. Using high-resolution digital microscopy, four initial colours of green, brown and possibly red and yellow were identified.

The dye analysis confirmed the use of indigo or woad in the green but was inconclusive for the other colours, probably due to the dyestuff having degraded.

No artificial or semi-synthetic dyestuffs were involved in the making of the tartan, leading researchers to believe it predates the 1750s.

Experts have said the tartan was more than likely worn as an “outdoor working garment” and would not have been worn by royalty.

The STA said the textile was created somewhere between 1500 and 1655, but the period of 1500 to 1600 was most probable.

This makes it the oldest known piece of true tartan discovered in Scotland.

Four initial colours of green, brown and possibly red and yellow were identified in the tartan

Peter MacDonald, head of research and collections at the STA, said the testing process took nearly six months but that the organisation was “thrilled with the results”.

“In Scotland, surviving examples of old textiles are rare as the soil is not conducive to their survival,” he added.

“The piece was buried in peat, meaning it had no exposure to air and it was therefore preserved.”

He said that because the tartan contains several colours, with multiple stripes, it corresponds to what would be considered a true tartan.

Mr MacDonald said: “Although we can theorise about the Glen Affric tartan, it’s important that we don’t construct history around it.

“Although Clan Chisholm controlled that area, we cannot attribute the tartan to them as we don’t know who owned it.”

Historical significance

He also said that the potential presence of red, a colour that Gaels consider a status symbol, is interesting because the cloth had a rustic background.

“This piece is not something you would associate with a king or someone of high status, it is more likely to be an outdoor working garment,” he added.

John McLeish, chair of the STA, said the tartan’s “historical significance” likely dates to the reigns of King James V, Mary Queen of Scots or King James VI/I – between 1513 and 1625.

Due to where it was found, the piece of fabric has been named the Glen Affric tartan and measures about 55cm by 43cm (approximately 22 by 17 inches).

It will go on public display at the V&A Dundee design museum from 1 April until 14 January next year.

James Wylie, the curator at V&A Dundee, said: “We knew the Scottish Tartans Authority had a tremendous archive of material and we initially approached them to ask if them if they knew of any examples of ‘proto-tartans’ that could be loaned to the exhibition.

“I’m delighted the exhibition has encouraged further exploration into this plaid portion and very thankful for the Scottish Tartans Authority’s backing and support for uncovering such a historic find.”

He added that it was “immensely important” to be able to exhibit the Glen Affric tartan and said he was sure visitors would appreciate seeing the textile on public display for the first time.

EUROPE, TURKEY, WORLD

The colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük provide insight into the burial rituals of a fascinating society that lived 9000 years ago

The colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük provide insight into the burial rituals of a fascinating society that lived 9000 years ago

The colored skeletons of Çatalhöyük provide insight into the burial rituals of a fascinating society that lived 9000 years ago

New research provides new insights into how the inhabitants of the “oldest city in the world” in Çatalhöyük (Turkey) buried their dead.

Their bones were partially painted, excavated several times, and reburied. The findings provide insight into the burial rituals of a fascinating society that lived 9000 years ago.

The research was done by an international team with the participation of the University of Bern and is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Çatalhöyük (Central Anatolia, Turkey) is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Near East, with an occupation that dates back to 9000 years ago. This Neolithic settlement, known as the world’s oldest city, covers an area of 13 ha and features densely aggregated mudbrick buildings.

The houses of Çatalhöyük present the archaeological traces of ritual activities including intramural burials with some skeletons bearing traces of colorants, and wall paintings.

Detail of the cinnabar stripe on the cranium of the male individual.

The association between the use of colorants and symbolic activities is documented among many past and present human societies. In the Near East, the use of pigments in architectural and funerary contexts becomes especially frequent starting from the second half of the 9th and the 8th millennium BC.

Near Eastern archaeological sites dating back to the Neolithic have returned a large body of evidence of complex, often mysterious, symbolic activities. These include secondary funerary treatments, retrieval and circulation of skeletal parts, such as skulls, and the use of pigments in both architectural spaces and funerary contexts.

The first analysis of the pigments used in funerary and architectural contexts from this essential Neolithic site.

According to the senior author of the study Marco Milella (Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern): “These results reveal exciting insights about the association between the use of colorants, funerary rituals and living spaces in this fascinating society”.

Geometric wall painting in the building.

A time travel into a world of colors, houses, and dead

Marco Milella was part of the anthropological team who excavated and studied the human remains from Çatalhöyük. His work involves trying to make ancient and modern skeletons “speak”. Establishing the age and sex, investigating violent injuries or special treatment of the corpse, and solving skeletal puzzles are routine activities at the Department of Physical Anthropology.

The study shows that red ochre was most commonly used at Çatalhöyük, present on some adults of both sexes and children, and that cinnabar and blue/green were associated with males and females, respectively.

Intriguingly, the number of burials in a building appears associated with the number of subsequent layers of architectural paintings. This suggests a contextual association between funerary deposition and application of colorants in the domestic space. “This means: when they buried someone, they also painted on the walls of the house”, Milella says.

Furthermore, at Çatalhöyük, some individuals “stayed” in the community: their skeletal elements were retrieved and circulated for some time, before they were buried again. This second burial of skeletal elements was also accompanied by wall paintings.

Hand Print on the wall.

Neolithic mysteries

Only a selection of individuals was buried with colorants, and only a part of the individuals remained in the community with their circulating bones.

According to Marco Milella, “the criteria guiding the selection of these individuals escape our understanding for now, which makes these findings even more interesting. Our study shows that this selection was not related to age or sex”.

What is clear, however, is that visual expression, ritual performance, and symbolic associations were elements of shared long-term socio-cultural practices in this Neolithic society.

EUROPE, FRANCE, WORLD

The naked Venus statue was discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

The naked Venus statue was discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

The naked Venus statue was discovered in a Roman garbage dump in France

Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (Inrap) has been uncovered a trove of artifacts, including two statues of the goddess Venus, in a Roman-era quarry-turned-trash-dump in the city of Rennes, France.

Artifacts dating back to 1800 years included statues of Venus, as well as a pottery kiln, clothes pins, and coins.

Archaeologists reported earlier this month that they had discovered a quarry that was probably important in constructing Roman Rennes while excavating before a development project.

The founding of the city of Rennes dates back to 100 A.D. Back then, it was still the Condate Riedonum, which was a Roman town.

The foundations for several of Condate’s walls and streets were constructed using tiny slabs of Brioverian schist that were extracted during the first and second centuries of our era.

 The excavation of such a set can teach archaeologists more about the management and organization of the quarry, as well as the gestures of the quarry workers (tools used, extraction techniques), the evolution of the working face over time, and the development of the quarry in successive levels.

Large atypical vase from the Gallo-Roman period in ceramic, with drippings of pitch.

During the quarry excavation, a piece of the mother-goddess Venus genetrix, depicted with her chest covered in fabric, was found.

The statuette dates from between the 1st to 2nd century AD and depicts a 10cm tall naked Venus made from terracotta. She is shown holding her hair which is held in place by an imposing headdress.

 The second and more thorough example is Venus Anadyomene, who emerged from the sea. She is naked and is wringing the water from her hair with her right hand.

Venus is a Roman goddess associated with love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory.

According to Roman mythology, she was an ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy.

Excavations of the accumulated layers of Roman rubbish has revealed a multitude of finds, including fragments of ceramic tableware, several terracotta statuettes of deities, coins and items of adornment (fibulas).

EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

Unique and very well-preserved prehistoric engravings found in southwestern Catalonia

Significant prehistoric rock art has been discovered in La Febro, in southwestern Catalonia. The team that discovered the art inside Cova de la Vila described it as “exceptional, both for its singularity and excellent state of conservation.”

In the Cova de la Vila cave in La Febró (Tarragona), in northeastern Spain’s region of Catalonia, more than 100 prehistoric engravings have been found, arranged on an eight-meter panel.

According to experts, it is a composition related to the worldview of agricultural societies and farmers of the territory. One of the singularities of this mural is that it is made exclusively with the engraving technique, with stone or wood tools.

The engravings include shapes that resemble horses, cows, suns, and stars.

Julio Serrano, Montserrat Roca, and Francesc Rubinat were the cavers responsible for the discovery; they collaborated with Josep Vallverd, Antonio Rodrguez-Hidalgo, and Diego Lombao, researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), and Ramón Vias, an expert in prehistoric rock art.

It was in May 2021, during some scans and topographical work by a group of speleologists in the Barranc de la Cova del Corral, that they discovered the Cova de la Vila, a cavity excavated by Salvador Vilaseca in the 1940s and whose coordinates appear to have been lost.

The set is very homogeneous stylistically and presents few overlaps. From the stylistic point of view, the set is part of the post-Paleolithic schematic art. It is an art associated with peasant and livestock communities during the transition period between the Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age, that is, between 5,000 and 3,000 years BC.

In Catalonia, these types of ensembles, in underground cavities, are very rare, being the case of the Sala dels Gravats of the karstic complex of Cova de la Vila exceptional for being inside a cave and possibly associated with an archaeological context.

These types of representations are uncommon in Catalan territory, though some examples can be found, such as the Vallmajor Cave in Albinyana, Baix Penedès. In the peninsular area, it would be classified as “underground black schematic and abstract schematic,” which are heterogeneous groups distinguished by their formal or typological, thematic, and technical affinities.

La Pileta and Nerja in Málaga, La Murcielaguina in Córdoba, and the Los Enebralejos caves in Segovia, the Galera del Flex in Burgos, or the Maja Cave in Soria are some Andalusian caves with painted (black or red) or engraved representations and similar chronologies.

The engravings are in exceptional condition, but they are extremely fragile due to the instability of the support on which they are found. Because it is a soft and humid surface, changes in the atmospheric conditions in the room may affect the conservation of the panel.

To ensure these climatic conditions, the Department of Culture, the Febró Town Hall, and the IPHES collaborated to close it both outside and inside, ensuring its physical conservation. Similarly, a closure has been installed in the access to the cat flap, which provides direct access to the Sala dels Gravats, to return it to the climatic conditions it had prior to discovery.

A unique set of engravings

The rock art collection of the Sala dels Gravats of the Cova de la Vila karstic complex is completely unique. Despite the fact that its research phase has not yet begun, all indications point to it being one of the best compositions of post-paleolithic subterranean abstract art in the entire Mediterranean region.

On one of the cave walls, a large number of schematic representations have been discovered. The engraving panel is made up of five horizontal lines, one on top of the other, with different engraved figures that each have their own meaning and symbolism.

Various figures such as quadrupeds, zigzags, linear, angular strokes, and circles are represented. There are several zoomorphs (possibly bovids and equines), steliforms (single and/or stars), and reticulates that stand out. There’s also a composition that looks like an ‘eyeballed’ idol. The overall aesthetic is very consistent, with few stylistic overlaps.

The distribution of the various elements suggests that it could be a composition: zoomorphic in the lower part of the panel, reticulated, particularly in the central part, and steliform in the upper part of the group, with an eye in the upper part of the group.