Unlike many other caves, Askondo can still be entered by the same passage used by the painters of the cave. Image courtesy Diputacion Foral de Vizcaya.
Do people living in the area now have any special beliefs about the caves?
There is a very ancient mythology in Basque culture related to caves. In fact, there is an old legend for Askondo cave which says that a young boy from the farmhouse near the cave passed close to the cave every day to go to spin wool in another farmhouse. One day the “lamiak” (half women-half duck mythological figure) who lived in the cave told him not to come back near the cave. He didn’t take care and one day he was [attacked] and disappeared in the cave. It is also said that Askondo cave was a witches’ meeting place.
The Basque language is the oldest spoken language in Europe…This ancient heritage makes us proud and aware of the necessity to preserve it in this globalized world.
What will happen next with your work in the cave?
At the moment, we have only done a preliminary study of the paintings. It is necessary to perform a detailed inspection of all the walls in the 300 meters of cave and also to perform some digging tests to know if there is an occupation site contemporary to the paintings. Also a restoration program is planned for the worst-conserved paintings. All these studies will be the object of a monographic publication where all the results of the project will be detailed.
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Keywords: Archaeology, Basque, cave art, horses, prehistoric, rock art, spain
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/13/prehistoric-cave-art-discovered-in-basque-country/