Discovered some 7,000 year old rock paintings in Portell de Morella
A group of 7,000 year old rock paintings have been discovered in the municipal area of Portell de Morella (Els Ports, Castelló, Spain). Inés Domingo, ICREA researcher in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the University of Barcelona (UB), has participated in the documentation of the paintings, which belong to two prehistoric art traditions known as Levantine and schematic art.
A group of 7,000 year old rock paintings have been discovered in the municipal area of Portell de Morella (Els Ports, Castelló, Spain). Inés Domingo, ICREA researcher in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology of the University of Barcelona (UB), has participated in the documentation of the paintings, which belong to two prehistoric art traditions known as Levantine and schematic art.
The find is the result of a series of chances that began in 2004 when Ismael Gil and Jacint Cerdà, inhabitants of Portell de Morella, found this ancient treasure while they were having a walk. In 2010, they informed archaeologists Francesc X. Duarte and Francisco J. Hernández about the find when they meet by chance while they were working on the urban development plan of Portell de Morella.
In order to prove find authenticity, Duarte and Hernández contacted the UB archaeologist Inés Domingo, expert on rock art who has developed several projects in the areas of Les Ports and El Maestrazgo. Domingo visited the site in 2011 and identified a total of twenty-one motifs: two goats, a deer, an unidentified animal, nineteen archers and one hand. One of the goats is very big and it predominates on one of the panels; the rest of motifs appear on the other panel. Archers participate in different scenes. One of them shoots an animal. The others are divided into two groups; they walk in single line raising bows above their heads, like if they were celebrating something.
According to Domingo, these groups “are particularly interesting as they do not have many things in common with Levantine art”. “Another remarkable aspect is that Levantine and schematic art traditions superposition is rare”. Mediterranean basin rock art was designed heritage of cultural interest in 1985 and UNESCO added it to its list of World Heritage Site in 1998.
Besides the UB researcher, finds were presented by the mayor of Portell de Morella, Álvaro Ferrer; the regional director for Culture, Francisco Medina, and the archaeologist Francesc Xavier Duarte.