Stepping Back in Time

leanne804

Jul 4

by Daffodil June 2022

On a hot summer day back in August of 1973, we were on the North coast of Spain near the
historic town of Santillan del Mar in Cantabria. We had crossed the border that morning at
Irun, south of Biarritz in the South of France. Our ancient Volkswagen camper sputtered along, it seemed hot, cross and dusty, as were its occupants. It was past our usual lunch time and we were searching for a pleasant place to stop and get out and stretch our legs. The classy coastal town of Biarritz, while interesting was not a lunch stop for a young couple on a budget. Spanish currency bought a lot more food and wine than French francs did, we discovered pretty fast.

The countryside seemed to be fairly deserted. We had turned off the main coastal highway after the border and surrounding us were rolling hills and low vegetation and the occasional rural home here and there. Suddenly we saw a sign post saying "historic point of interest" in Spanish and decided to turn onto the rutted and unpaved road. Our guide maps could be studied once we were stopped. The track ended in a grassy field and in one corner stood a small building that was shuttered with the door closed. We turned off the engine and got out. The sudden silence enveloped us, only the wind blowing through the tall grasses made a soft whispering sound in our ears. We strolled over to the building and saw the notice pinned to the door "gone for lunch" was a reasonable translation. We 'tskd' in annoyance, when had they gone for lunch, why not put a notice saying "will be back at 2pm" or something more convenient to passers by. We read the sign pointing over the hill. The Cave of Altamira, 1/2 a mile.

We decided to take a look, our interest piqued by this information. A short walk and we came upon the cave and its entrance, a huge iron gate, firmly padlocked. We grasped the bars and peered into Stygian darkness. We returned to the camper and decided to wait, we had some food in the refrigerator and water to drink. After our lunch finished we put our blanket on the grass and settled in, we were not in a hurry and the place was peaceful. After a quarter of an hour we heard a sound, the unmistakable, low coughing sound that a 45cc motor makes. Sure enough along the track came a Vespa with an older man on it. He glanced in our direction and we smiled and waved. He went into his shack and left the door open.

Although we spoke no Spanish, we had English, French, Swiss/German, and a bit of Italian at our disposal. He spoke only the local dialect and not even a 'yes' or 'no'. We conveyed our
interest by hand signals, on going into the Cave and asked him what the entry fee was.
He didn't seem interested in collecting a fee, though surely it wasn't free we thought. He waved his hands in the universal of sign of "nothing", which was fine with us. He picked up a lantern and indicated we were to follow him. At the gate he produced a large iron key from his pocket and unlocked it. He signed that we must be careful, follow him closely and not talk!

He turned the lantern on and proceeded along a raised and smooth pathway which was
illuminated by the light he carried. After a short walk in the tomb like space and chilly air and silence only broken by our soft footfalls, he stopped and raised the lantern high and indicated for us to look up. What we saw almost took our breath away.

High on the walls were incredible depictions of animals, a herd of bison, horses, goats, and what looked like a wild boar. Also hand prints were clearly visible. The art was in beautiful colours of ochre and yellow and brown and black. We gazed up in absolute awe and I felt the prickle of tears in my eyes. By the pressure of my husband's hand, I knew he felt the emotion too. The people who made these pictures were humans like ourselves. They had children and families. They hunted and gathered their food and had, most probably, the same sorrows or happiness that we experience today. They needed food, shelter, and water to survive. What was so incredible was the time line, these people had lived about 36,000 years ago, in the Paleolithic period and their art had endured, hidden away in this cave, out of sight until discovery by chance, in the 20th Century.

Our guide indicated we should leave and so from the chill and darkness and absolute silence of the cave we returned to the sunshine and blue sky above the grassy field. We thanked the man, who still declined any gratuity and got back in our camper and drove on, up the coast of Spain, our minds still reeling on what we had seen in the Cave of Altamira.

Story footnote:
Today the original cave is no longer accessible to the public. In 1977 it was closed to the
public, then re-opened in 1982 with limited access. Then in 2002 authorities found green mold on some of the paintings and it was shut down completely. A replica of the cave and the art has been constructed on the site.
Photo copyright UNESCO

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