Near Santillana del Mar, Cantabria, northern Spain; on the Cantabrian coastal range, 30 kilometres west of Santander, Spain
Altamira is a Palaeolithic cave site in Cantabria, northern Spain, containing polychrome cave paintings and engravings created between approximately 36,000 and 13,000 BCE, representing the most sophisticated prehistoric art in Europe. The cave's ceiling in the 'polychrome chamber' — 18 metres long and 9 metres wide — is covered in painted bison, horses, deer, and boar rendered in red ochre, black charcoal, and manganese dioxide, with figures that use the natural undulations of the limestone ceiling to give the animals three-dimensional form. The Altamira bison — lying, standing, charging, rolling — are among the most artistically accomplished images in human history, representing Upper Palaeolithic people's extraordinary capacity for observation, visual abstraction, and the purposeful transformation of natural pigments into enduring images. The cave is closed to public access except in highly restricted circumstances; a replica cave (Neocueva) allows visitors to experience the paintings without threatening the originals.
Cave paintings created c. 36,000–13,000 BCE (Upper Palaeolithic); discovered 1868 by Modesto Cubillas; authenticated 1902 after initial rejection; closed to public 2002; UNESCO World Heritage Site 1985 (expanded 2008)
