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Photograph of the Policrome Ceiling of the cave of Altamira

Pedro Saura20st century

National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira

National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira
Santillana del Mar (Cantabria, Spain), Spain

The Great Hall of Polychromes is the best-known and most iconic part of the cave of Altamira. It includes images that are figurative and abstract, engraved, drawn, and painted, in black and red, covering a wide period of time from at least 36,000 years ago to the time of the collapse of the cave entrance around 13,000 years ago. Acting as a large canvas, its surface is the meeting point on which the different groups of people who inhabited the cave, from the Aurignacian culture to the Magdalenian culture, expressed themselves.

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National Museum and Research Centre of Altamira

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