Page 8 - ART AND NATURE IN PREHISTORY. THE COLLECTION OF TRACINGS OF CAVE ART OF THE MUSEO NACIONAL DE CIENCIAS NATURALES

the oldest blazons of the hispanic peoplelos letreros caveIt was not until the 18th century that the rst copies of rock art in Spain were carried out:“ e laborious and learned writer Mr Fernando López de Cárdenas, parish priest of Montoro, who had been commissioned by the count of Floridablanca to collect mineral substances and other curiosities for the Gabinete de Historia Natural de Madrid (Cabinet of Natural History of Madrid), explored the 26th of May 1783 some forests located in this place and spot called, as it will be seen, ‘Written stone’ next to the stone stream and the banks of the Batanes river.”Ramírez, 1846At the beginning, these signs we now call schematic art were considered hieroglyphs and compared to Phoenician, Egyptian and Carthaginian types, the only possible interpretation therefore being that it was a type of language characteristic of the “tribes” that had inhabited the Iberian Peninsula. e creation of the Commission of Paleontological and Prehistorical Research promoted its meticulous and systematic study, copy and reproduction throughout most of the Spanish geography.However, it is unusual to nd paintings with a vertical distribution. Los Letreros Cave, discovered in 1868 by Manuel de Góngora Martínez, is one of the few well preserved examples that can be visited, nowadays famous for its pictures depicting the Indalo and shaman, considered by some the rst Almeria doctor.art and nature in prehistory. the collection of rock art tracings of the mncn008