Exhibition of Prehistoric Cave Paintings to Open at the National Museum

The world of the most famous painted prehistoric cave, the Altamira cave paintings in Spain, will be presented at the archaeological exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum opening on January 23, where the cave paintings will be shown in their original size on photographs.

One of the emblematic dates in the research of prehistory was 1879, when businessman and landowner Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola, an amateur explorer, discovered the paintings in the cave with his daughter Maria. He published the discovery a year later, but it took two decades for most critical prehistorians to acknowledge that they were not fakes. Since then, more than 500 prehistoric cave and open-air sites in Europe have been discovered with paintings, rock paintings, and engravings, and since 1985, prehistoric art, including the Cave of Altamira, has been a World Heritage Site.

The Cave of Altamira is open to limited visits due to its vulnerability. The Altamira National Museum and Research Centre has compiled a prestigious collection of photographs and texts of its cave paintings, which will form the basis of the exhibition opening in January. The exhibition will also give visitors the opportunity to learn about the circumstances of the cave’s discovery and the explorer himself. In addition, thanks to the Hungarian material in the museum’s National Archaeological Institute, the public will also gain insight into the Upper Paleolithic of present-day territory of Hungary.

The first paintings in the Cave of Altamira date back 35,000 years, while the last ones date back 13,000 years. This means that they belong to the Upper Paleolithic period (45-12,000 years ago). “Although we do not know any cave paintings from Hungary, we have other finds that testify to the activities of people living at that time, other than mere self-preservation,” the press release quotes György Lengyel, archaeologist of the National Archaeological Institute of the Hungarian National Museum and curator of the exhibition. He added: “Partly decorated with scratches, the exhibition will showcase objects such as the so-called ‘ladder amulet’ found in the Jankovich Cave (northern Hungary). The meaning of the figure is a mystery to us, but it shows a kind of artistic, abstract thinking. In addition, visitors will be able to see weapons of prehistoric hunters and prehistoric animal remains to learn about the prehistoric environment of the Carpathian Basin.”

The exhibition entitled ALTAMIRA’s Cave Drawings – The Beginnings of Art will be on display from January 23 to June 2, 2024 in the Pulszky Hall of the Hungarian National Museum. The exhibition will be accompanied by professional guided tours and educational sessions.

Via MTI, Featured image: Wikipedia