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The
Altamira
Caves,
discovered
by
Marcelino
Sanz
de
Sautuola
in
1879,
are
located
in
one
of
the
hills
that
surround
the
nice
valley
where
Santillana
village
is
placed.
Its
discovery
started
big
polemics
between
the
archaeologists,
because
they
did
not
believe
that
prehistoric
men
were
able
to
do
such
perfect
paintings.
The
main
gallery,
called
the
“polychromes
chamber”,
is
also
known
as
the
“Cappella
Sistina”
of
the
quaternary
art.
In
its
ceiling
there
are
nearly
a
hundred
of
animals
and
signs,
especially
bisons
in
different
postures
(21),
with
other
animals
as
deers,
horses,
wild
boars
and
bulls,
sometimes
superimposed,
made
with
different
techniques
–
engraving,
print,
scraping-
that
produce
an
splendid
composition,
full
of
movement
and
beauty,
which
is
unique
in
the
Palaeolithic
art.
They
were
painted
14.000
years
ago.
The
rest
of
the
cave
(270
metres
-890
feet-
long)
has
plenty
of
engravings,
some
of
them
older
than
the
paintings,
and
an
important
archaeological
deposit
in
the
hall.
Near
the
original
caves
there
is
an
Investigation
Centre
and
a
Museum.
The
Altamira
Caves
were
declared
by
UNESCO
protected
cultural
heritage
site,
so
its
visit
is
restricted
to
nine
thousand
people
per
year,
to
preserve
the
paintings
(breath
exhaust
and
body
heat
caused
big-time
damage
to
the
fragile
paintings
in
the
past).
To
solve
these
problems,
it
has
been
recently
built
an
excellent
copy
of
the
caves,
with
a
big
fidelity
and
quality
that
will
satisfy
the
interest
and
curiosity
of
the
million
tourists
that
visit Santillana
per
year.
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