10,000 year old art

22 January 2010

In a cave in the middle of nowhere southern Patagonia Argentina, you can see 10,000 year old art. To visit this amazing archeological site, we drive two hours from the nearest village (4,000 inhabitants) which is itself in the middle of nowhere to one side of a deep canyon. We then hike to the other side of the canyon through spectacular cliffs and a lush green valley with the river (rio pintura) in the middle.

Our destination, the Cueva de las Manos, is a cliff and a cave with unusual rock-paintings: handprints. The prints are up to 10,000 years old. The cave was used for 8,000 years by hunters who left hundreds of handprints behind. The handprints are negative: the hand was placed against the rock and then paint (red, yellow, black and blue) was applied around the hand's outline. The vast majority of prints are of the left hand. Regrettably, the meaning of these paintings has been lost. One of the many prints sticks out: a hand with six fingers. Either this person did indeed have six fingers (a condition known as hexadactyly, about 1 in 1000 births). Or one of the caveman painted an extra finger, this theory is supported by the fact that the print is one of the very few that's not an outline. Maybe a 10,000 year old prank?

After visiting this extraordinary place we continue our hike. We descend into the canyon again, taking a different route. This time there is no hanging bridge across the river. We take off our shoes and walk across the shallow river enjoying the cool water on this hot and sunny day.

Our little trip did involve a bit of side "entertainment". As we arrive at the river, the guide realizes that one of 13 people in the group is missing. He probably should have counted BEFORE we set off on the steep unmarked trail down the canyon. Well never mind, the guide decides to simply continue the hike (one of 13 is an acceptable loss in guiding?). As we start climbing up on the other side of the canyon, there are some exchanges (shouting across the canyon) between our guide and one of his colleagues on the other side. It seems the lost tourist has been found. Our guide appears less worried than the rest of us and seems to think the missing girl will somehow meet us at the bus . . . To everyone's surprise, the missing girl catches up with us and she is not too pleased and starts cursing the guide.

Fotos here