Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley

About

Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde are a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) transboundary World Heritage Site, located in the Côa Valley of Portugal and Siega Verde, Spain.

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley is an open-air Paleolithic archaeological site located in northeastern Portugal, near the border with Spain.

In the early 1990s, rock engravings were discovered in Vila Nova de Foz Côa during the construction of a dam in the Côa River valley. They include thousands of engraved rock drawings of horses, bovines and other animals, human and abstract figures, dated from 22,000 to 10,000 years B.C. The sites were reviewed by archaeologists and other specialists of UNESCO and other agencies. Public support grew, both within Portugal and internationally, for preservation of the archaeological artifacts and rock paintings. In 1995 elections led to a change in government resulting in the cancellation of the dam project.

Since 1995, a team of archaeologists have been studying and cataloging this prehistoric complex. The Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley ( Portuguese : Parque Arqueológico do Vale do Côa (PAVC) ) was created to receive visitors and research the findings, and the Côa Museum was constructed here following a major design competition.

Main articles: Prehistoric Iberia and Timeline of Portuguese history

The earliest drawings appearing in the Côa Valley date between 22 and 20 thousand years B.C., consisting of zoomorphic imagery of nature. Between 20 and 18 thousand B.C. ( Solutrean period), a secondary group of animal drawings included examples of horses. There was greater elaboration during 16–10 thousand years B.C. ( Magdalenian period), with a Paleolithic style. The essentially anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs included horses identifiable by their characteristic manes, aurochs with mouths and nostrils detailed, and deer.

Other paintings dating back to the Epipaleolithic period were of zoomorphic semi-naturalist design. Some anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs, both geometric and abstract, date from the Neolithic period. Others, primarily anthropomorphic, date back to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age.

Between the 5th and 1st centuries BC, early organized societies produced anthropomorphic and zoomorphic carvings that include weapons and symbols.

The most recent era of recorded rock art dates from the 17th to 20th centuries and includes religious, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs, inscriptions and dates. The most recent of these include representations of boats, trains, bridges, planes and representations of various scenes, including drawings completed by António Seixas and Alcino Tomé.

In the 20th century, the construction of the Pocinho Dam and its associated reservoir likely resulted in the immersion of many rock cliff drawings. By the 1990s, prospectors revealed a group of important Paleolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic carvings in the lower part of the Côa Valley, likely in November 1991 by Nelson Rabanda (articles were not published on this work until November 1994). Later, António Martinho Baptista would determine that Iron Age carvings corresponded to works by Celtic-Iberian tribes, specifically the Medobrigenais or Zoilos. Some of these cultures were identified for the first time with the Côa findings.

In 1995, a plan to construct a dam was approved and works began in the Côa Valley. However, following the original discovery of rock art, an archaeologist had been investigating the Côa valley under the direction of the national energy company ( Energias de Portugal – EDP ) and the agency responsible for architectural heritage ( Instituto Português do Património Arquitectónico – IPPAR ). Both were made aware of the prehistoric art along the Côa, earlier than the general public and scientific community. Archaeologist Nélson Rabanda, studying the site under an agreement between EDP and IPPAR, reported the case to the press and other organizations interested in prehistoric art and heritage, such as UNESCO. There was a move by EDP to disprove the age of the carvings in order to continue the dam project, despite the damage it would do to the findings.

National controversy around the case forced IPPAR to petition UNESCO for a review of the site. In December 1994, Jean Clottes came to the region to investigate the discoveries. The UNESCO reports were not unanimous on whether the power plant should be cancelled; Clottes, the head of prehistoric department, noted that rising water may protect the engravings from vandalism, but also confirmed that Coa Valley "is the biggest open air site of palaeolithic art in Europe, if not in the world". At the time, the number of known carvings was smaller but there was suspicion that many more had already been submerged by the completed Pocinho Dam. This was confirmed by Nelson Rabanda, who investigated the submerged Canada do Inferno site and found more carvings. Archaeologists discovered other sites in the areas of Penascosa, Ribeira de Piscos, Quinta da Barca, Vermelhosa, Vale de José Esteves, among others, and quickly published their discoveries and took the matter to national media. A citizens group, Movimento para a Salvação das Gravuras do Côa, arose with a slogan, "As gravuras não sabem nadar" ( The carvings don't know how to swim ), an allusion to a major hit song of the time, Black Company's "Nadar".

A second UNESCO team, led by Mounir Bouchenaki, director of the World Heritage branch, was sent to conclude the case. His team determined that a great part of the carvings dated as far back as the Palaeolithic. The Portuguese government's insistence in proceeding with the dam project led to mounting political scandal and pressure from the international community. The dam project was denounced in international newspapers such as The Sunday Times, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and broadcasters such as the BBC.

Meanwhile, after the visit by the UNESCO delegation, IPPAR created an international scientific commission to accompany the study of the art in the Côa valley. This was considered controversial. It included António Beltrán, E. Anati and Jean Clottes, and met in May 1994. EDP continued to promote other methods of "saving" the prehistoric art (such as creating moulds or carving the panels from the cliff faces), while still promoting the continuation of the dam project. EDP was also helped by the direct dating controversy; Robert Bednarik and Alan Watchman, in addition to Fred Phillips and Ronald Dorn, used an unproven methodology to affirm that the carvings were not Palaeolithic. These events displeased archaeologists and the public. A broad-based movement against the dam developed. In 1995, general elections resulted in a government change. Incoming Prime Minister António Guterres cancelled the dam project in November 1995.

The government established a system to monitor and preserve the archeological resources; the events of the so-called "Battle of Côa" led to the establishment in May 1997 of the National Centre for Prehistoric Art ( Portuguese : Centro Nacional de Arte Rupestre/CNART ) and the Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley ( Portuguese : Parque Arqueológico do Vale do COa/PAVC) ), the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology ( Portuguese : Instituto Português de Arqueologia, as well as dependent agencies. The National Centre for Aquatic and Subaquatic Archaeology ( Portuguese : Centro Nacional de Arqueologia Náutica e Subaquática/CNANS ) opened in August 1996.

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998 (from an advisory board report on 25 June 1997).

In 2003, a study analysed the viability of introducing the Przewalski horse in the area, a species related to those portrayed in the Paleolithic rock art.

By May 2004, a public tender was commissioned by the Portuguese Order of Architects to design the Côa Museum, won by architects Tiago Pimentel and Camilo Rebelo. On 26 January 2007, construction of the Côa Museum begun.

More excavations were done in Fariseu from 19 September to October 2005, under the direction of Thierry Aubry, who discovered several slabs of schist (10 x 20 centimetres) dating to the Paleolithic.

The conference HERITAGE 2008 – World Heritage and Sustainable Development International Conference took place at Vila Nova de Foz Côa between 7–9 May 2008. The conference examined the relationships between heritage, human development, natural environment and building preservation, and promoted significant discussion, organized by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture.