More Paleolithic cave paintings uncovered for dating at a site in Antequera

The Cueva de las Suertes was discovered in 2021, but more has been uncovered in these remains of a cave, and the images date to between 35,000 and 60,000 years old

Antonio J. Guerrero

Thursday, 27 February 2025, 18:47

Long before Antequera's dolmens were built, between 30,000 and 60,000 years ago there was a human settlement in the Cueva de las Suertes where 13 more cave paintings have been found in addition to the initial two found in 2021, the year when the Palaeolithic site was discovered by accident.

The cave is located in the Romeral pine forest on the old Antequera-Malaga road and it holds some serious treasures to be investigated as it is now the earliest known settlement in the area, dating to between 35,000 and 60,000 years old.

This cave was partly destroyed when the nearby road was built in the area last century, but the site was not discovered until four years ago when some hikers found something that grabbed their attention. They in turn alerted the experts to their unusual find: stalactite sheets in full sun.

Now, the councillor in charge of heritage for Antequera, José Medina Galeote, and municipal archaeologist Manuel Romero have shared the first data from an international study that confirms the provenance of this site.

The international team is comprised of experts from the Cueva de Nerja, the Ardales Cave team, the University of Cadiz and the international project 'First Art'. They applied the Uranium-Thorium (U-Th) method to date these pictorial remains, the definitive results of which they hope will provide more refined and accurate dates. For the time being, with the data available from the Ardales site, the remains date to between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods.

This study also confirms that the cave can be aligned with other Palaeolithic sites in southern Spain, such as the Nerja Cave, the Cueva del Toro and the Cueva de Ardales, explains the municipal archaeologist. After the two-dimensional and three-dimensional digitalisation of these remains, it has become clear that, from the initial two pictorial panels found in 2021, there are now 13 more, so 15 altogether. This certainly increases the value of the chance discovery made by hikers just four years ago.

From Neolithic to Palaeolithic

So, human occupation of the lands around Antequera goes way beyond the times of the dolmens, which are between 4,500 and 6,000 years old. This site is now key to learning more about the Palaeolithic period in the inland areas of Malaga province. Studies are still being carried out on settlements known to have existed in the flat area that makes up the vast Antequera plain, but that is another story.

For this reason, "it is of greater importance than what we announced in 2022," said Romero. Now they are continuing with the analysis of these remains and a conference is planned for May with the participation of the scientists who have prepared this documentation and analysis so they can provide all the details to date.

Back at the end of 2022 the archaeologist for the Cueva de Nerja, Luis Efrén, explained what had happened to this cave near Antequera: that the quarrying of aggregates for the Romeral road "possibly dismantled practically the entire cave."

This exploitation of materials destroyed the natural vaults: "Only a part of the southern limit remains and it caused the collapse to the southern area, probably the deepest end of the upper part, so that a huge block containing the pictorial evidence tilts around 90 degrees to the north-east, which would be the left sector of the preserved site."

We will have to wait a little longer to find out just who painted in this cave up to 60,000 years ago.

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