STORY: Experts determine cave paintings of sailing boats in Spain oldest in western Mediterranean
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 31, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 1, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:33
LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of cave paintings
2. various of Laja Alta area

STORYLINE:

The prehistoric cave paintings of sailing boats from the Laja Alta site located in the town of Jimena de la Frontera, in southern Spain, are the oldest in the western Mediterranean. This is determined by a recent study by the University of Granada.

These representations are naval ships dated between the 4th and 3rd millennium BC, which represents one of the few testimonies of prehistoric navigation on the Iberian Peninsula, the researchers indicate in a statement this week.

Laja Alta is a rocky hollow located in the Alcornocales park. The place stands out for the presence of cavities with cave representations of boats, forming a naval scene, which is accompanied by other symbols of the so-called "schematic cave style."

The study represents one of the most complete interdisciplinary contributions applied to the so-called rock art of recent prehistory in southern Spain.

According to Antonio Morgado Rodriguez, coordinator of the research team, these studies involve the collaboration of a large team of researchers whose data reaffirm the interdisciplinary results, which contrast with other contributions on Laja Alta based exclusively on stylistic and formal issues.

The research team has used advanced techniques such as photogrammetry, 3D cavity scanning and spectroscopic analysis of pigments. In addition, carbon-14 dating has been applied to micro samples of the pigments, which has made it possible to obtain a direct chronology of the paintings.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Barcelona, Spain.
(XHTV)