Côa Valley Paleolithic Art

Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of the Côa Valley (Núcleos de arte rupestre do Vale do Côa)
Prehistoric art (Arte Rupestre)
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
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.