It is the largest concentration of rock art stations with prehistoric paintings and engravings. Researchers from the University of Seville and Huelva are now dedicating themselves to an exhaustive analysis. They propose global protection measures for the wonderful rock art of Gibraltar.
They could be the Geopark or UNESCO World Heritage figures. The University of Seville indicates that this gives the area exceptional value. They could investigate the replacement of hunter-gatherer-fisher groups by tribal societies over time. And also the transition from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens on both sides of the Strait. The results of the research have appeared in a new publication in the journal Quaternary.
The objective of the study focuses on defining and analyzing the characteristics inherent to Southern Art. There is a high density of enclaves and the presence of Paleolithic hands. A wide variety of stylistic techniques are known with superimpositions and the reuse of numerous coats at different times.
Dangers that threaten
It is a unique phenomenon in the world that manifests itself in a specific geographic region. It takes place only in the geological unit called the Aljibe Unit. Weathering and erosion in that specific geographical location has been able to generate the shelters where it is located.
The work has also analyzed the current situation of Southern Art. The main dangers that threaten it are climate change (fires, erosion or drought) and the lack of protection and research. For this reason, the authors propose global protection measures such as the Geopark or UNESCO World Heritage figures. They urge administrations to protect the enclaves with effective legal measures that preserve them from deterioration and loss for future generations.
It is the only focus of intercontinental rock art in the world Located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula (Cádiz) and north of Morocco. The wonderful rock art of Gibraltar It has a very high concentration of stations per square kilometer.
Unprotected
It is the only set of outdoor rock art with such ancient chronologies. It has the southernmost negative hands on the entire European continent and also the only ones made on open-air sandstone. For all these reasons, for the authors of the study it is "inconceivable that his fate is still devalued, unprotected." They call on the administrations for their protection.
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