10 sites to see prehistoric rock art in the Region of Murcia

From Yecla and Moratalla in the north to Isla Plana in the south, Murcia was home to cave-dwelling artists as long as 10,000 years ago

Hidden away in caves and rock shelters of the Murcia countryside is evidence that the forefathers of modern humans inhabited these lands millennia ago, and that their first leanings towards artistic creativity found a means of expression in the primitive images they formed on the walls of their shelters in rocky outcrops.

What’s more, it is possible to visit some of these places and to fully appreciate how and where (if not exactly why) these images were created, in their original location and context rather than in the cold, academic setting of a museum!

Before listing some of these sites, though, a note about the kind of art which can be found here!

Numerous locations in the Region of Murcia are listed in the UNESCO World heritage Site entitled “Prehistoric Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin”, most of them containing examples of “Levantine” prehistoric pictorial art. This consists mainly of small painted representations of human and animal figures, the earliest of their kind in Europe, and UNESCO specifies that Levantine art dates from approximately 10,000 years to 5,500 years ago. In other words, the paintings were created over a timespan too long for us to imagine comfortably and are the work of over 200 generations of prehistoric men belonging to hunter-gatherer cultures.

The artists may have been trying to conjure up hunting magic, and the sites are typically in mountainside rock shelters and shallow caves illuminated by natural light.

Iberian schematic art, on the other hand, is a more recent phenomenon, and is generally held to have been prevalent in the Iberian Peninsula between around 4,000 BC and 1,000 BC. Its defining characteristic is that only basic fragments of each figure are represented, converting the elements into little more than outlines and, in some cases, geometrical shapes.

The Region of Murcia tourist board suggests the following sites for those keen to see these remnants of some of the earliest creative human settlers in Europe!

1. Abrigo del Milano - Mula

The Abrigo del Milano is located in a ravine alongside the River Mula at an altitude of around 550 metres above sea level, and there are both Levantine and Schematic images here. Among them we can see an archer, two feminine figures, some animals and various symbols which may have held religious significance.

By what is probably pure chance, very close by is a collective burial site dating from the Late Stone Age.

2. Abrigos del Pozo - Calasparra

The paintings in the Los Abrigos del Pozo, within the Almadenes Canyon. Date from approximately 8,000 years ago, at which time it was common to represent the activities of daily life in painted form.

These are Schematic images and they can be reached along a track used by shepherds in prehistoric times – fortunately, the path is now manageable even for those with some physical disability.

3. Barranco de los Grajos - Cieza

There are three rock shelters containing prehistoric artwork in the Barranco de los Grajos. The first shows mainly human figures (especially females) and numerous animals, the second contains a number of objects from the Stone Age and in the third there is a mass burial chamber from the Copper Age.

4. Conjunto del Arco - Cieza

This is a complex of caves and shelters located between the Sierra de la Palera and the Almadenes Canyon, but among them only two contain paintings. In Cave nº 1 there are pictorial representations of two horses’ heads, one animal and a symbol, while in the other there are goats’ heads, 23 incomplete paintings and two abstract symbols.

5. Cueva Sima de la Serreta - Cieza

There are many caves around the Almadenes canyon and the Cueva Sima is located on the left bank, a beautiful location where the canyons leads directly into the course of the River Segura.

Inside the cave are 50 Schematic paintings, most of them restored, belonging to different styles. Further along, in another cave, are 50 more figures, some of them rendered in a semi-naturalist style.

6. Fuente del Sabuco - Moratalla

Located in the Cañaica de Andrés, this is an important site and is of great interest to researchers,¡ and tourists alike due to the fine condition in which the paintings have survived.

There are two shelters, in the first of which are over 70 figures representing quadrupeds, men, women and about 20 non-distinguishable forms. In the second shelter is a vertical wall showing 14 figures painted in a similar style.

7. Cañaica del Calar- Moratalla

The Cañaica del Calar is about 45 minutes’ drive from Moratalla and is also known as “El Calar de la Santa”. There are two painted shelters here, one of them featuring as many as 60 superb animals and other figures, the other 14 representations of mainly human forms.

8. Abrigo del Buen Aire - Jumilla

The Abrigo del Buen Aire is approximately 800 metres above sea level in the Sierra de la Cingla and the paintings inside belong to both the Levantine and Schematic categories. Among the Levantine figures are various hunting and dancing scenes, while the Schematic representations include more abstract animal figures.

9. Monte Arabí - Yecla

The mystical mountain in the north of Yecla contains Stone Age and Bronze Age sites as well as various rock shelters at altitudes of over 1,000 metres above sea level.

On the one hand, in the two Cantos de Visera we can see numerous quadrupeds and highly realistic human figures, while on the other hand, in the Abrigo del Mediodía, we find more Schematic art showing human figures, some with their arms folded and others with individual characteristics.

10. Cueva de la Higuera - Cartagena

Not far from the village of Isla Plana, the paintings in the Cueva de la Higuera were not discovered until 1982 and are unusual in Murcia in that they are located just a few metres from the sea. Along with numerous hunting tools and other implements, the paintings discovered include a feminine figure complete with skirt and a goat-like animal with very long horns.

This cave is also known as the “Cueva de los Cochinos".

If planning to visit any of these sites, the advice is to do so in advance and to consult with local tourist information offices in order to check accessibility. At the same time, of course, you can pick up information about other sites of interest in the locality concerned!