2018Pre Historic Route - Special Folder

As if on a journey to a distant place, time ies as it travels the land... In the UpperPalaeolithic age, in the open-air sanctuary formed by the stone walls of the banks of the Côa River – declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO – handscarve and scratch out gures. Horses, aurochs, goats and hinds appear on thelarge slabs of schist. Some images can be seen from a distance, others criss- -cross and superimpose each other, sometimes in a confusing tangle of lines, but each carving adds to the symbolism of the place. On the riverbanks, whilethese animals remain xed in the engraved stones, the human groups movearound vast areas, following the herd, in a space with no borders. The carved vista of the Côa Valley is part of this symbolic world, dominated by animalgures.