Rock Art of Portugal & Spain19th May 2025

Cave Art without the caves

As an immense open-air gallery, the Côa Valley is blessed with more than a thousand rock art depictions, identified in more than 80 different sites, with predominance of Paleolithic engravings, executed around 30,000 years ago. This is a rare opportunity to visit rock art away from the beaten tourist trail, across the Spanish/Portuguese border region, in unspoiled countryside. Set within the peaceful valley of the Côa river, surrounded by rolling hills, and vineyards, the engravings were only discovered 20 years ago when they were about to be drowned as part of a huge dam project. An international outcry saved the rock art for prosperity. It is not only the largest outdoor collection of Palaeolithic images, but also, the only known place where rock art from the Upper Paleolithic (c2400 BCE) through to historical times is found together. There is an interesting comparison with the Spanish site at Siega Verde just across the border.