Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas - (World Heritage Site in Argentina)

Cueva de las Manos, Río Pinturas

Short Report

The Cueva de las Manos, Rio Pinturas, contains an exceptional collection cave art, carried out between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago. The owes its name (Cave of the hands) of the mimeographed memorandum outlines of man in the cave, but there are also many pictures of animals, such as guanacos (Lama guanicoe ), still to be found in the region, as well as hunting. The people who are responsible for the paintings are the ancestors of the historic hunter-gatherers communities of Patagonia found by European settlers in the 19th century.

Wide Report

The Cueva de las Manos (Caves of the hands) contains an exceptional collection cave art, carried out between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago, that bears witness to the culture of the earliest societies in South America. It derives its name from the mimeographed memorandum outlines of man in the cave, but there are also many pictures of animals, such as guanacos, still widely used in the region, as well as hunting. The people who are responsible for the paintings are the ancestors of the historic hunter-gatherers communities of Patagonia found by European settlers in the 19th century. The artistic series, which consists of three large stylistic groups, began in the 10TH millennium BP (Before Present). The sequence is a long one: archaeological research has shown that the site is for the last inhabited around AD 700 by the possible ancestors of the first Tehuelche Airport is inhabitants of Patagonia.  The Cueva is considered by the international scientific community is one of the most important sights of the earliest hunter-gatherers groups in South America. The paintings of the rock shelters and caves are located in a beautiful landscape, with the river running through a deep canyon.  The herded paints animals and human figures interacting in a dynamic and naturalistic way. Different hunting strategies are shown, with animals is surrounded in ambushes, or attacked by hunters with their weapons disposal, round stone known as bolas. Some scenes give individual hunters and other groups of ten or more men.

The entrance to the Cueva is screened by a rock on which many hand stencils. Within the rock shelter themselves there are five concentrations of rock art, more recent data and motifs often on top of the previous periods. The paintings were performed with natural mineral pigments - iron oxides (red and purple), kaolin (white), natrojarosite (yellow), manganese oxide (black) - ground and mixed with a type of binder.

Travellers are a visit to the Cueva de los Manos since the middle of the 19th century and the impressions of the paintings. They were first mentioned in the scientific literature in the 20th century, but it was only in 1960 that became the subject of serious study. The work of Carlos J. a. Gradin and his staff the importance of the Cueva de los Manos if a prehistoric rock-art site of international scientific interest. The favorable conditions (very low humidity, no water ingress, stable rock strata) on the rock shelter have ensured that the conservation status of all but the most exposed paintings is excellent.

Historical Data

The progress of the human penetration in South America is the subject of intensive scientific discussions at the moment. Some early radiocarbon dating from the north-eastern region of Brazil have denied the up to now generally accepted view that this began around 12,000 BP. This, however, has no effect on the date of the occupancy of the Rio Pinturas rock shelter, which was set up by digging and radiocarbon analysis c 9300 BP. The first group of people (whose art classified as stylistic Group (A) were long-distance hunters whose main prey was the guanaco.

7000 BP a second cultural level can be identified, characterized by stylistic Group B. herded are located not more, and the rock art is dominated by the stencils. There are also some examples of stencils of the feet of the American ostrich (ñandú). This culture has lasted until c 3300 BP, when the art was more schematic and very stylised and zoomorphic percentile anthropomorphic dummy figures.

The last cultural stage Rio Pinturas began around 1300 BP. Its art (stylistic Group (C), carried out in bright red pigments, focused on abstract geometric figures and very schematic images of people and animals. 

Is assumed that the work of the historic Tehuelche Airport is hunter-gatherers that are located in the vast majority of Patagonia as the first Spanish traders and settlers arrived. It was the creation of large cattle ranches (estancias) that their way of life.

The Area Arqueológica y Natural Río Pinturas-Santa Cruz is located in the pampas part of the Pinturas River region. Low plateaus at a height of 800-1000m by deep gorges surrounded by steep cliffs, of which the most important was that of the Pinturas itself. There are many natural rock shelters in the rocks. The soil is rocky and poor, but the region supports a varied natural fauna, where the guanaco (Lama guanicoe) prominent.

The climate of the canyons is moderate, because they are protected from the wind that sweep the pampas. The mild winter temperatures and the humidity is high in comparison with the pampas make this area suitable for seasonal grazing of the cattle from the estancias. Palaeoclimatic studies based on the sediments of the Cueva de los Manos suggest that the current circumstances was at 11,000 BP. The effect of the Cueva de los Manos is screened by a rock on which many hand stencils. Within the rock shelter themselves there are five concentrations of rock art. More recent data and motives are often on top of the previous periods.

The paintings were performed with natural mineral pigments which were ground and mixed with any kind of binder, the nature of which is unknown. Traces of the pigments were found in the archaeological excavations carried out in the entrance of the cave, thus a contextual link between the paintings and the stratified cultural material. X-Ray diffraction analysis has shown that the most common minerals were used iron oxides (hematite and maghemite) for red and purple, kaolin for white, natrojarosite for yellow and black manganese oxide; plaster was sometimes added to the mixture.

Source:whc/unesco