Type Non-movable Designated 1935 Province Province of Guadalajara | Criteria Monument Reference no. RI-51-0001089 | |
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Location Riba de Saelices, Spain Address 19441 Riba de Saelices, Guadalajara, Spain Similar Cave of La Pasiega, Pettakere cave, Las Caldas cave, Cave of Chufín, La Marche | ||
Cueva de los casares
Cueva de los Casares is a cave in Riba de Saelices in Guadalajara, Spain. Discovered in 1933, it contains a number of paleolithic cave paintings, and is most notable for a series of paintings depicting what some have argued is the earliest representation of human understanding of the reproductive process, featuring images of copulation (perhaps mediated by a mysterious shaman figure), pregnancy, childbirth, and family life. Mammoths and other animals feature frequently in the illustrations. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1935.
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There are many representations of animals, anthropomorphs (human-like figures), and ideomorphs (including penises, vulvas, tools, and more abstract images).
The cave and its paintings are little known to scholars outside Spain.