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Côa Valley

Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley (Núcleos de arte rupestre do Vale do Côa)
Prehistoric art (Arte Rupestre)
Rock Art Foz Coa 03.jpg
Animal sketches on the granite stones of the Penascosa Prehistoric Site
Official name: Conjunto dos núcleos de arte rupestre do Vale do Côa
Country  Portugal
Region Norte
Sub-region Douro
District Guarda
Municipality Vila Nova de Foz Côa
Length 17,000 m (55,774 ft), South-North
Area 200 m2 (2,153 sq ft)
Origins Unknown, António Seixas, Alcino Tomé
Style Pre-historic
Materials Schist, Granite, Ocre/Black paints
Origin 22-20,000 years B.C.
 - Final 17th-20th century
 - Discovery c. 1990
Owner Portuguese Republic
For public Public
Visitation Closed (Mondays and on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December)
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde
Year 1998 (#22)
Number 866
Region Europe
Criteria i, iii
Management Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Status National Monument
Listing Decree No. 32/97, 2 July 1997
LocalVilaNovaDeFozCoa.svg
Location of the Côa Valley within Continental Portugal
Website: http://www.arte-coa.pt/

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley is an open-air Paleolithic archaeological site located in a region of northeastern Portugal, along the Portuguese-Spanish border.

In the early 1990s rock engravings were discovered in Vila Nova de Foz Côa in the course of the construction of a dam in the valley of the Côa River. 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 BCE. The sites were reviewed by archaeologists and other specialists of UNESCO and other agencies. Public support grew for preservation of the archaeological artifacts and rock paintings both within Portugal and internationally, and in 1995 elections led to a change in government. The new prime minister cancelled this dam project.

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

The first drawings appearing in the Côa Valley date between 22-20,000 years B.C., consisting of zoomorphic imagery of nature. Between 20-18,000 B.C. (Solutense period), a secondary group of animal drawings included examples of muzzled horses. There was greater elaboration during 16-10,000 years B.C. (Magdalenense period), with a Paleolithic style. The essentially anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs included horses identifiable by their characteristic manes, aurochs with mouths and nostrils indicated, and deer.

Other paintings dating back to the Epipaleolithic period were of zoomorphic semi-naturalist design. Another phase of anthropomorphic designs were encountered during the Neolithic, that also included zoomorphic designs that were both geometric and abstract. Anthropomorphic designs also appeared dating back to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages; these were primarily anthropomorphic in character.


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