Good morning! Today is #FridayPaleoart again in @Before_art with:
Cave: #Armintxe
Place: Lekeitio (Bizkaia, Basque Country, Spain)
Motif: Great panel with horses, ibex, bison and signs
Chronology: #Magdalenian

Armintxe is situated in the municipality of #Lekeitio ( #LeaArtibai, #Bizkaia), in the valley of #Lea. This small basin is famous because of the huge number of #Magdalenian sites, some of them with portable art (like #SantaCatalina) and with rock art (e.g. #Atxurra, #Lumentxa).

The access is currently made through an artificial conduit opened as a result of the urbanization work. Precisely, the original entrance was intentionally covered during said that works in the second half of the century XX.

On May 1, 2016, the caving group #ADES planned an unblocking of the cave, gaining access to the cavern and finding the main panel of engravings. The cavers invited two members of the #AGIRI archeology group that day and suggested they enter after the discovery.

Armintxe is made up of a network of several cave-levels, of which the lower and middle are active, acting as a collector for several streams and suffering floods that have affected some of the engravings. This appears to be due to both natural and man-made processes. (topo: ADES)

The engraving technique seems exclusive to Armintxe in different variations. The similarities of the motifs relate this ensemble to Pyrenean Middle Magdalenian contexts, and very closely with Tuc d'Audoubert, where it is possible to observe very similar #lions and #claviforms.

Currently the team made up of C. González Sainz (IIIPC, Unican) and J.C. López Quintana (Agiri) are carrying out the study in this cave, one of the three most important (along with #Atxurra and #AitzbitarteIV) discoveries made in the ...

… Basque Country during the last decade, within the framework of systematic reviews initiated by @GarateDiego. see :

- https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/695721
- https://www.bizkaia.eus/kultura/ondarea/kobie/argitalpenak.asp?ID=98&imagen=Kobie_Anejo_15_web.jpg&serieID=6

I. Intxaurbe ( @inaki_intxaurbe)

End of thread! PPP.