7000 Years Old Cave Paintings In Spain Discovered With The Help Of Drones; Navigates 18 Caves

by Tooba Shaikh
7000 Years Old Cave Paintings In Spain Discovered With The Help Of Drones; Navigates 18 Caves

If you know anything about archaeology, you know that cave paintings are important sites of information. You get to learn a lot about how humans functioned way back when we were just discovering what it is to be. In the past, in order to discover these precious cave paintings, archaeologists would have to walk through rough terrain. It was especially difficult to access caves whose locations weren’t very accessible. However, recently, old cave paintings were discovered with the help of drones and it might help change how archaeology is done for good.

7000 Years Old Cave Paintings Discovered In Spain

old cave paintings
Image Credits: University Of Alicante

The paintings were discovered in the caves in the mountainous region that surround the regions of Alicante and Valencia. This entire region is not easy to scale. So when experts at the University of Alicante realised that they’ll have to explore the area for prehistoric cave paintings, they strapped themselves for a rough climb.

That is until Javier Fernandez Molina had the bright idea of attaching cameras to drones. According to Molina, who also happens to be a proficient drone pilot, using these drone-attached cameras would make it easier to explore those parts of the terrain that were more difficult to scale and were more inaccessible. And he was right.

Also Read: Japan Has A 600-Year-Old ‘Divorce Temple’ Which Has Been A Refuge For Abused Women For 600 Years

18 Caves Navigated In First Aerial Foray

old cave paintings
Image Credits: University Of Alicante

In its first aerial expedition, the drones managed to scour a total of 18 caves. Two of these 18 caves had cave paintings that were more than 7,000 years old! These paintings were a source of new insight into the lives of people that inhabited the caves.

Molina even hypothesised that these people must have employed some kind of scaffolding in order to access the caves. Both the caves contained paintings of people as well as animals that were roughly four inches in size.

The people were engaged in different activities including archery. Deers and goats, some of which were bruised by an arrow, were also featured. The paintings in one of the caves were in significantly better condition than the others.

Even though drones have been utilised for archaeological purposes before, this is the first time it was used for scouting and expedition. It is hoped that such drones will make archaeologists’ work significantly easier.

Also Read: 4000-Year-Old Mummification Workshops Unearthed In Egypt; Game Changer For Its Tourism Industry

Cover Image Credits: University Of Alicante