1.
Cave of Altamira
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The earliest paintings in the cave were executed around 35,600 years ago. Altamira was the first European cave for which prehistoric origin of the paintings was suggested and promoted by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and he published his research with the support of Juan Vilanova y Piera in 1880 to public acclaim. Altamira is located in the Franco-Cantabrian region and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as the element of the Cave of Altamira. The cave is approximately 1000 meters long and consists of a series of twisting passages, the main passage varies from two to six meters in height. The cave was formed through collapses following early Karst phenomena in the rock of Mount Vispieres. Archaeological excavations in the cave floor found rich deposits of artifacts from the Upper Solutrean, both periods belong to the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. In the millennia between these two occupations, the cave was inhabited only by wild animals. Around 13,000 years ago a rockfall sealed the entrance, preserving its contents until its eventual discovery. Human occupation was limited to the mouth, although paintings were created throughout the length of the cave. The artists used charcoal and ochre or haematite to create the images, often diluting these pigments to produce variations in intensity and they also exploited the natural contours of the cave walls to give their subjects a three-dimensional effect. The Polychrome Ceiling is the most impressive feature of the cave, depicting a herd of extinct steppe bison in different poses, dated to the Magdalenian occupation, these paintings include abstract shapes in addition to animal subjects. Solutrean paintings include images of horses and goats, as well as handprints that were created when artists placed their hands on the cave wall, numerous other caves in northern Spain contain Paleolithic art, but none is as complex or well-populated as Altamira. In 1879, amateur archaeologist Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola was led by his eight-year-old daughter María to discover the caves drawings, a fellow countryman maintained that the paintings had been produced by a contemporary artist, on Sautuolas orders. Later Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola found out the artist could have used marrow fat as oil for the lamp, alcohol was not available at the time as far as we know. Still, remains unexplained how the paintings particularly in Altamira cave and that year, Emile Cartailhac emphatically admitted his mistake in the famous article, Mea culpa dun sceptique, published in the journal LAnthropologie. Sautuola, having died 14 years earlier, did not live to enjoy his rehabilitation, further excavation work on the cave was done by Hermilio Alcalde del Río between 1902–04, the German Hugo Obermaier between 1924–25 and finally by Joaquín González Echegaray in 1981. In 2008, researchers using uranium-thorium dating found that the paintings were completed over a period of up to 20,000 years rather than during a brief period. This means that these drawings could have made by Neanderthal authors instead of homo sapiens
2.
Geography of Spain
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With an area of 504,030 km², Spain is the fourth largest country in Western Europe and with an average altitude of 650 m. Its total area is 504,782 km2 of which 499,542 km2 is land and 5,240 km2 is water, Spain lies between latitudes 36° and 44° N, and longitudes 19° W and 5° E. Its Atlantic coast is 710 km long, the Pyrenees mountain range, extends 435 km from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay. Most of Spains boundaries are water, the Mediterranean Sea on the south to the French border, the affiliation of Gibraltar has continued to be a contentious issue between Spain and Britain. The sovereignty of the plazas de soberanía on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco is disputed by Morocco, Spain also has a small boi exclave inside France called Llívia. The majority of Spains peninsular region consists of the Meseta Central, other landforms include narrow coastal plains and some lowland river valleys, the most prominent of which is the Andalusian Plain in the southwest. These are commonly grouped into four types, the Meseta Central and associated mountains, other regions, lowland regions. The Meseta Central is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain, rimmed by mountains, the Meseta Central slopes gently to the west and to the series of rivers that form some of the border with Portugal. The Sistema Central, described as the spine of the Meseta Central, divides the Meseta into northern and southern subregions. The Sistema Central rims the capital city of Madrid with peaks that rise to 2,400 m north of the city, west of Madrid, the Sistema Central shows its highest peak, Pico Almanzor, of 2,592 m. The mountains of the Sistema Central, which continue westward into Portugal, display some glacial features, the southern portion of the Meseta is further divided by twin mountain ranges, the Montes de Toledo running to the east with the Sierra de Guadalupe, to the west. Their peaks do not rise higher than 1,500 m. With many easy passes, including those that connect the Meseta with the Andalusian Plain and this chain of lower mountain ranges is separated from the Sistema Central to the north by the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula, the Tagus River. The mountain regions that rim the Meseta Central and are associated with it are the Sierra Morena, the Cordillera Cantábrica, the massif of the Sierra Morena extends northward to the Río Guadiana, which separates it from the Sistema Central. Despite their relatively low elevations, seldom surpassing 1,300 m, the Cordillera Cantábrica, a limestone formation, runs parallel to, and close to, the northern coast near the Bay of Biscay. Its highest points are the Picos de Europa, surpassing 2,600 m, the Cordillera Cantábrica extends 182 km and abruptly drops 1,500 m some 30 km from the coast. To the west lie the hills of the northwest region and to the east the Basque mountains that link them to the Pyrenees, the Sistema Ibérico extends from the Cordillera Cantábrica southeastward and, close to the Mediterranean, spreads out from the Río Ebro to the Río Júcar. The barren, rugged slopes of mountain range cover an area of close to 21,000 square kilometers
3.
Candamo
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Candamo is a municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. It is bordered on the east by Las Regueras, on the south by Grado, on the north by Illas, Castrillón and Soto del Barco, around Candamo and specially on the shores of the Rio Nalon many paleolithic artifacts have been found. The first documentations about Candamo are from the 11th century and was found in an Monasterys Archive, left, the coat of arms from Grado. Right, a symbol for the boards, Don Pelayo used, to build a bridge over the river, to cross with his soldiers
4.
Caves of Monte Castillo
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The Caves of Monte Castillo, located in the Cantabrian town of Puente Viesgo, contain one of the most important Paleolithic sites in the region. The caves contain decorations in red ochre in the forms of hand stencils from as far back as 35,300 BC, one red disk or dot has been dated to 40,800 years ago, making it the oldest dated cave decoration in the world as of 2012. The caves are located along the Pas river in the Castillo mountain and this is a fertile ground for agriculture, hunting and fishing, which explains the emergence of several prehistoric settlements there. Art of the Upper Paleolithic List of Stone Age art Media related to Cuevas del Monte Castillo at Wikimedia Commons
5.
Cave of El Castillo
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The Cueva de El Castillo, or the Cave of the Castle, is an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, and is located in Puente Viesgo, in the province of Cantabria, Spain. It contains the oldest known art in Europe. Some researchers argue this might even be the oldest known example of artwork in the world, where larger stalagmites had been painted, maximum ages were also obtained. Cueva del Castillo was discovered in 1903 by Hermilio Alcalde del Río, a Spanish archaeologist, the entrance to the cave was smaller in the past and has been enlarged as a result of archaeological excavations. Alcalde del Río found a sequence of images executed in charcoal and red ochre on the walls. The paintings and numerous markings and graffiti span from the Lower Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, there are over 150 depictions already cataloged, including those that emphasize the engravings of a few deer, complete with shadowing. Art of the Upper Paleolithic List of Stone Age art Cave of La Pasiega Other sources Pike, A. W. G. Hoffmann, D. L. Garcia-Diez, M. Pettitt, P. B. Alcolea, J. De Balbin, R. Gonzalez-Sainz, C. de las Heras, lasheras, J. A. Montes, R. Zilhao, J. U-Series Dating of Paleolithic Art in 11 Caves in Spain. Caves of Cantabria - Spanish Government Council of Culture, Tourism and Sport Video, Paleolithic Cave Arts in Northern Spain, El Castillo Cave
6.
Cave of La Pasiega
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Cueva de La Pasiega, or Cave of La Pasiega, situated in the Spanish municipality of Puente Viesgo, is one of the most important monuments of Paleolithic art in Cantabria. It is included in the UNESCO schedule of Human Heritage since July 2008, under the citation Cave of Altamira, the caves of Monte Castillo form an amazingly complete series, both as regards the material culture of the Old Stone Age and from an artistic point of view. The principal gallery is approximately 70 meters and opens to deeper secondary galleries, winding and labyrinthine, thus one refers to room II-VIII, the room called Gallery B, or room 11 of Gallery C, all with paleolithic decorations. The two last mentioned rooms contain some of the sanctuaries that will be mentioned below. The recorded remains belong mainly to the Upper Solutrean and the Lower Magdalenian ages, throughout the cave are many walls with paintings and with engraved or incised images. There are representations of equines, cervids and bovines, there are also many abstract symbols. The scientific discovery of the La Pasiega can be credited to Wernert, while excavating the cave of El Castillo in 1911, they received news that the workers knew of another cavity nearby that villagers called La Pasiega. The investigators soon confirmed that the cave contained rock paintings, later, Henri Breuil, Hugo Obermaier, and Hermilio Alcalde del Río began their systematic study of the cave. However, the study could not be finished due to Henri Breuils ongoing work on his magnum opus, a separate monograph was necessary, and was published in 1913. The study was crucial to the advancement of science in Spain. That is the period in which the cave of La Pasiega was discovered and this is the most important moment in the study of Cantabrian rock art. The excavations were continued at times, intermittently, until our own times. Ultimately the investigation was taken up by the archaeologists Rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann, after the discovery of La Pasiega and the first campaigns, the area was little visited — mainly owing to the difficult historical circumstances of Spain in the 1930s. In light of this, the engineer Alfredo García Lorenzo concluded that Monte Castillo held more secrets, the cave, because it had remains of the primary Cantabrian Solutrean and Magdalenian epochs, provided the basis for a chronological series for the wall paintings. The excavations were old, most recently conducted by Dr. Jesus Carballo in 1951, there was a base level with ambiguous artefacts which, by their characteristics, seemed related to a possible Mousterian phase. This level could be attributed accurately to the Upper Solutrean, the most recent layer was also relatively rich, with various burins, striker pins, and perforated objects of bone and that could belong to the Lower Magdalenian. Certainly, compared with the significance of El Castillo, La Pasiega is an archeological sequence of less organization. However they should not be less valued for this
7.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
8.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
10.
Paleolithic
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It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools, probably by Homo habilis initially,2.6 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene around 10,000 BP. The Paleolithic era is followed by the Mesolithic, the date of the Paleolithic–Mesolithic boundary may vary by locality as much as several thousand years. During the Paleolithic period, humans grouped together in small societies such as bands, the Paleolithic is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, including leather and vegetable fibers, however, due to their nature, surviving artifacts of the Paleolithic era are known as paleoliths. About 50,000 years ago, there was a increase in the diversity of artifacts. For the first time in Africa, bone artifacts and the first art appear in the archaeological record, the first evidence of human fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as Blombos cave in South Africa. The new technology generated an explosion of modern humans which is believed to have led to the extinction of the Neanderthals. Humankind gradually evolved from members of the genus Homo—such as Homo habilis. The climate during the Paleolithic consisted of a set of glacial and interglacial periods in which the climate periodically fluctuated between warm and cool temperatures, by c. 50,000 – c. 40,000 BP, the first humans set foot in Australia. By c. 45,000 BP, humans lived at 61°N latitude in Europe, by c. 30,000 BP, Japan was reached, and by c. 27,000 BP humans were present in Siberia, above the Arctic Circle. At the end of the Upper Paleolithic, a group of humans crossed Beringia, the term Paleolithic was coined by archaeologist John Lubbock in 1865. It derives from Greek, παλαιός, palaios, old, and λίθος, lithos, stone, human evolution is the part of biological evolution concerning the emergence of anatomically modern humans as a distinct species. The Paleolithic Period coincides almost exactly with the Pleistocene epoch of geologic time and this epoch experienced important geographic and climatic changes that affected human societies. During the preceding Pliocene, continents had continued to drift from possibly as far as 250 km from their present locations to positions only 70 km from their current location. South America became linked to North America through the Isthmus of Panama, most of Central America formed during the Pliocene to connect the continents of North and South America, allowing fauna from these continents to leave their native habitats and colonize new areas. Africas collision with Asia created the Mediterranean Sea, cutting off the remnants of the Tethys Ocean, climates during the Pliocene became cooler and drier, and seasonal, similar to modern climates. The formation of an Arctic ice cap around 3 million years ago is signaled by a shift in oxygen isotope ratios and ice-rafted cobbles in the North Atlantic. Mid-latitude glaciation probably began before the end of the epoch, the global cooling that occurred during the Pliocene may have spurred on the disappearance of forests and the spread of grasslands and savannas
11.
Cave painting
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Cave paintings are painted drawings on cave walls or ceilings, mainly of prehistoric origin, to some 40,000 years ago in Eurasia. The exact purpose of the Paleolithic cave paintings is not known, evidence suggests that they were not merely decorations of living areas since the caves in which they have been found do not have signs of ongoing habitation. They are also located in areas of caves that are not easily accessible. Some theories hold that cave paintings may have been a way of communicating with others, the paintings are remarkably similar around the world, with animals being common subjects that give the most impressive images. Humans mainly appear as images of hands, mostly hand stencils made by blowing pigment on a hand held to the wall. The earliest known cave paintings/drawings of animals are at least 35,000 years old and are found in Pettakere cave on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, previously it was believed that the earliest paintings were in Europe. The earliest non-figurative rock art dates back to approximately 40,000 years ago, nearly 340 caves have now been discovered in France and Spain that contain art from prehistoric times. But subsequent technology has made it possible to date the paintings by sampling the pigment itself, the choice of subject matter can also indicate chronology. For instance, the reindeer depicted in the Spanish cave of Cueva de las Monedas places the drawings in the last Ice Age. The oldest date given to a cave painting is now a pig that has a minimum age of 35,400 years old at Pettakere cave in Sulawesi. Indonesian and Australian scientists have dated other non-figurative paintings on the walls to be approximately 40,000 years old, the method they used to confirm this was dating the age of the stalactites that formed over the top of the paintings. The art is similar in style and method to that of the Indonesian caves as there were also hand stencils and this date coincides with the earliest known evidence for Homo sapiens in Europe. Because of the cave arts age, some scientists have conjectured that the paintings may have made by Neanderthals. The earliest known European figurative cave paintings are those of Chauvet Cave in France and these paintings date to earlier than 30,000 BCE according to radiocarbon dating. Some researchers believe the drawings are too advanced for this era, the radiocarbon dates from these samples show that there were two periods of creation in Chauvet,35,000 years ago and 30,000 years ago. In 2009, cavers discovered drawings in Coliboaia Cave in Romania, an initial dating puts the age of an image in the same range as Chauvet, about 32,000 years old. Some caves probably continued to be painted over a period of thousands of years. This was created roughly between 10,000 and 5,500 years ago, and painted in rock shelters under cliffs or shallow caves, though individual figures are less naturalistic, they are grouped in coherent grouped compositions to a much greater degree
12.
Santillana del Mar
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Santillana del Mar is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Its many historic buildings attract thousands of holidaymakers every year, there is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is The Town of Three Lies, since it is neither a Saint, nor flat, nor is it by the sea as implied by its name. However, the name derives from Santa Juliana whose remains are kept in the Colegiata. The UNESCO World Heritage site Cave of Altamira is nearby, the 3,983 inhabitants are distributed as follows, Arroyo,43 pop. Santillana, footballer The protagonist of the novel Gil Blas is born in Santillana, in his philosophical novel La Nausée, Sartre described Santillana as the prettiest village in Spain. Santillana del Mar travel guide from Wikivoyage Santillana travel guide at HitchHikers Handbook
13.
Cantabria
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Cantabria is a historic Spanish community and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community, on the south by Castile and León, on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea. The most significant site for cave paintings is that in the cave of Altamira, dating from about 37,000 BC and declared, along with nine other Cantabrian caves, the modern Province of Cantabria was constituted on 28 July 1778 at Bárcena la Puente, Reocín. The Organic Law of the Autonomy Statute of Cantabria was approved on 30 December 1981, numerous authors, including Isidore of Seville, Julio Caro Baroja, Aureliano Fernández Guerra and Adolf Schulten, have explored the etymology of the name Cantabria, yet its origins remain uncertain. It is generally accepted that the root cant- comes from Celtic for rock or stone, thus, Cantabrian could mean people who live in the rocks or highlanders, a reference to the steep and mountainous territory of Cantabria. Cantabria is a mountainous and coastal region, with important natural resources and it has two distinct areas which are well differentiated morphologically, Coast. Santander Bay is the most prominent indentation in the coastline, to the south, the coastal strip rises to meet the mountains. This is a barrier made up of abruptly rising mountains parallel to the sea. The mountains are made of limestone with karst topography. They form deep valleys running north-south, the torrential rivers are short, fast flowing and of great eroding power, so the slopes are steep. The valleys define different natural regions, delimited physically by the mountain ranges, Liébana, Saja-Nansa, Besaya, Pas-Pisueña, Miera, Asón-Gándara. To the mountain region belongs the Escudo Range, a range of 600 to 1,000 metres high that covers 15 or 20 km in a parallel line to the coast in the West part of Cantabria. Towards the south are higher mountains, the tops of which form the watershed between the basins of the Rivers Ebro, Duero and the rivers that flow into the Bay of Biscay. The great limestone masses of Picos de Europa also stand out in the southwest of the region, most of their summits exceed 2,500 m, and their topography is shaped by the former presence of glaciers. Due to the stream, Cantabria, as well as the rest of Green Spain, has a much more temperate climate than might be expected for its latitude. The region has a oceanic climate, with warm summers. Annual precipitation is around 1,200 mm at the coasts, the mean temperature is about 14 °C. Snow is frequent in higher zones of Cantabria between the months of October and March, some zones of Picos de Europa, over 2,500 metres high, have an alpine climate with snow persisting year round
14.
Prehistory
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Prehistory means literally before history, from the Latin word for before, præ, and Greek ιστορία. Neighbouring civilisations were the first to follow, most other civilisations reached the end of prehistory during the Iron Age. The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing is known as the protohistory of the culture. By definition, there are no records from human prehistory. Clear techniques for dating were not well-developed until the 19th century and this article is concerned with human prehistory as defined here above. There are separate articles for the history of the Earth. However, for the race as a whole, prehistory ends when recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BC. For example, in Egypt it is accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently. The three-age system is the periodization of prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies, Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age. The notion of prehistory began to surface during the Enlightenment in the work of antiquarians who used the word primitive to describe societies that existed before written records, the first use of the word prehistory in English, however, occurred in the Foreign Quarterly Review in 1836. The main source for prehistory is archaeology, but some scholars are beginning to more use of evidence from the natural and social sciences. This view has been articulated by advocates of deep history, human population geneticists and historical linguists are also providing valuable insight for these questions. Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of its chronology, restricted to material processes, remains and artifacts rather than written records, prehistory is anonymous. Because of this, reference terms that use, such as Neanderthal or Iron Age are modern labels with definitions sometimes subject to debate. Palaeolithic means Old Stone Age, and begins with the first use of stone tools, the Paleolithic is the earliest period of the Stone Age. The early part of the Palaeolithic is called the Lower Palaeolithic, evidence of control of fire by early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic Era is uncertain and has at best limited scholarly support. The most widely accepted claim is that H. erectus or H. ergaster made fires between 790,000 and 690,000 BP in a site at Bnot Yaakov Bridge, Israel. The use of fire enabled early humans to cook food, provide warmth, Early Homo sapiens originated some 200,000 years ago, ushering in the Middle Palaeolithic
15.
Magdalenian
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The Magdalenian refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe, dating from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the site of La Madeleine, a rock shelter located in the Vézère valley, commune of Tursac. The culture was geographically widespread, and later Magdalenian sites have found from Portugal in the west to Poland in the east. It is the epoch of Gabriel de Mortillets cave chronology system. The Magdalenian epoch was a one, represented by numerous stations, whose contents show progress in the arts. It was characterized by a cold and dry climate, the existence of humans in association with the reindeer, the use of bone and ivory for various implements, already begun in the preceding Solutrian epoch, was much increased, and the period is essentially a Bone age. The bone instruments are varied, spear-points, harpoon-heads, borers, hooks. Most remarkable is the evidence La Madeleine affords of prehistoric art, numbers of bones, reindeer antlers and animal teeth were found, with rude pictures, carved or etched on them, of seals, fishes, reindeer, mammoths and other creatures. The man is naked which, together with the snake, suggests a warm climate, the fauna of the Madelenian epoch seems, indeed, to have included tigers and other tropical species side by side with reindeer, blue foxes, Arctic hares and other polar creatures. Madelenian humans appears to have been of low stature, dolichocephalic, with low retreating forehead, the culture spans approximatively from 17,000 to 12,000 BP, toward the end of the last ice age. The Magdalenian tool culture is characterised by regular blade industries struck from carinated cores, typologically, the Magdalenian is divided into six phases which are generally agreed to have chronological significance. Similarly, finds from the forest of Beauregard near Paris often have been suggested as belonging to the earliest Magdalenian, the earliest Magdalenian sites are all found in France. The Epigravettian is a similar culture appearing at the time in Italy, the Balkans, Moldavia, Romania. The later phases of the Magdalenian are also synonymous with the human re-settlement of north-western Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum during the Late Glacial Maximum, research in Switzerland, southern Germany, and Belgium has provided AMS radiocarbon dating to support this. Being hunter gatherers, Magdalenians did not simply re-settle permanently in north-west Europe, however, as they often followed herds, by the end of the Magdalenian, the lithic technology shows a pronounced trend toward increased microlithisation. The bone harpoons and points have the most distinctive chronological markers within the typological sequence, as well as flint tools, the Magdalenians are best known for their elaborate worked bone, antler, and ivory that served both functional and aesthetic purposes, including perforated batons. Cave sites such as the world famous Lascaux contain the best known examples of Magdalenian cave art, in northern Spain and south west France this tool culture was superseded by the Azilian culture. In northern Europe a slightly different situation exists, with different variants of the Tjongerian techno-complex following it
16.
Solutrean
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The Solutrean industry is a relatively advanced flint tool-making style of the Upper Palaeolithic, from around 22,000 to 17,000 BP. The term Solutrean comes from the type-site of Cros du Charnier, dating to around 21,000 years ago and located at Solutré, the Rock of Solutré site was discovered in 1866 by the French geologist and paleontologist Henry Testot-Ferry. It is now preserved as the Parc archéologique et botanique de Solutré, the eras finds include tools, ornamental beads, and bone pins as well as prehistoric art. Solutrean tool-making employed techniques not seen before and not rediscovered for millennia, the Solutrean has relatively finely worked, bifacial points made with lithic reduction percussion and pressure flaking rather than cruder flintknapping. Knapping was done using antler batons, hardwood batons and soft stone hammers and this method permitted the working of delicate slivers of flint to make light projectiles and even elaborate barbed and tanged arrowheads. Bone and antler were used as well, the Solutrean may be seen as a transitory stage between the flint implements of the Mousterian and the bone implements of the Magdalenian epochs. Faunal finds include horse, reindeer, mammoth, cave lion, rhinoceros, bear, Solutrean finds have been also made in the caves of Les Eyzies and Laugerie Haute, and in the Lower Beds of Creswell Crags in Derbyshire, England. The industry first appeared in what is now Spain, and disappears from the record around 17,000 BP. The migrants arrived in northeastern North America and served as the culture for what eventually developed into Clovis tool-making technology. The idea of a Clovis-Solutrean link remains controversial and does not enjoy wide acceptance, in 2014, the autosomal DNA of a male infant from a 12, 500-year-old deposit in Montana was sequenced. The DNA was taken from a referred to as Anzick-1. The skeleton was found in association with several Clovis artifacts. Comparisons showed strong affinities with DNA from Siberian sites, and virtually ruled out any close affinity of Anzick-1 with European sources, Clovis and Solutrean, Is There a Common Thread. by James M
17.
Upper Paleolithic
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The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity, modern humans are believed to have emerged about 195,000 years ago in Africa. Although these humans were modern in anatomy, their lifestyle changed very little from their contemporaries, such as Homo erectus, about 50,000 years ago, there was a marked increase in the diversity of artifacts. In Africa, bone artifacts and the first art appear in the archeological record, between 45,000 and 43,000 years ago, this new tool technology spread with human migration to Europe. The new technology generated an explosion of modern humans which is believed to have contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals. The Upper Paleolithic has the earliest known evidence of organized settlements, in the form of campsites, artistic work blossomed, with cave painting, petroglyphs, carvings and engravings on bone or ivory. The first evidence of fishing is also noted, from artifacts in places such as Blombos cave in South Africa. More complex social groupings emerged, supported by more varied and reliable food sources and this probably contributed to increasing group identification or ethnicity. By 50, 000–40,000 BP, the first humans set foot in Australia, by 45,000 BP, humans lived at 61° north latitude in Europe. By 30,000 BP, Japan was reached, and by 27,000 BP humans were present in Siberia above the Arctic Circle, at the end of the Upper Paleolithic, a group of humans crossed the Bering land bridge and quickly expanded throughout North and South America. Both Homo erectus and Neanderthals used the same crude stone tools, archaeologist Richard G. Klein, who has worked extensively on ancient stone tools, describes the stone tool kit of archaic hominids as impossible to categorize. It was as if the Neanderthals made stone tools, and were not much concerned about their final forms and he argues that almost everywhere, whether Asia, Africa or Europe, before 50,000 years ago all the stone tools are much alike and unsophisticated. These new stone-tool types have been described as being distinctly differentiated from each other, the invaders, commonly referred to as the Cro-Magnons, left many sophisticated stone tools, carved and engraved pieces on bone, ivory and antler, cave paintings and Venus figurines. The Neanderthals continued to use Mousterian stone tool technology and possibly Chatelperronian technology and these tools disappeared from the archeological record at around the same time the Neanderthals themselves disappeared from the fossil record, about 40,000 years ago. Settlements were often located in valley bottoms, possibly associated with hunting of passing herds of animals. Hunting was important, and caribou/wild reindeer may well be the species of single greatest importance in the anthropological literature on hunting. Technological advances included significant developments in flint tool manufacturing, with industries based on fine blades rather than simpler and shorter flakes, burins and racloirs were used to work bone, antler and hides. Advanced darts and harpoons also appear in period, along with the fish hook, the oil lamp, rope
18.
Green Spain
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This land strip includes Asturias, Cantabria, and the northern half of the Basque Country and Navarre all the way from Galicia through the French border. It is called green because its wet and temperate oceanic climate helps lush pastures and forests thrive, providing a similar to that of Ireland, Great Britain. The climate and landscape are determined by the Atlantic Ocean winds whose moisture gets trapped by the mountains circumventing the Spanish Atlantic façade, because of the Foehn effect, the southern slopes fall inside the rain shadow zone and so Green Spain contrasts starkly with the Spanish drier central plateau. The average precipitation is about 1,200 mm, higher than in most areas in inland central Europe, and wetter than almost anywhere in Spain, Asturias has an average summer temperature of 20-22C, being one of the mildest climates in Europe. Most of the rain comes from the Atlantic through Galicia, the part of Green Spain. Depending on the latitude of entry, this wet air can drop to the south, or more likely stay and run through the stretch of land. The main native tree species of this biome are beeches and oaks, in the second half of the 20th century, in some areas, native forests were replaced by plantations of eucalyptus and Monterey Pines for its commercial exploitation in the paper industry. The Eurosiberian region of the Iberian Peninsula Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome Green Spain Green Spains non official site, visit Asturias A guide to Spains Asturias region in English. Weather explained in Green Spain Asturias How is the weather in Green Spain in English
19.
Rock art
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In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural stone, it is largely synonymous with parietal art. A global phenomenon, rock art is found in many diverse regions of the world. It has been produced in many contexts throughout history, although the majority of rock art that has been ethnographically recorded has been produced as a part of ritual. Such artworks are often divided into three forms, petroglyphs, which are carved into the surface, pictographs, which are painted onto the surface. The oldest known rock art dates from the Upper Palaeolithic period, having found in Europe, Australia, Asia. Archaeologists studying these artworks believe that they likely had magico-religious significance, Rock art continues to be of importance to indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, who view them as both sacred items and significant components of their cultural patrimony. Such archaeological sites are significant sources of cultural tourism, and have been utilised in popular culture for their aesthetic qualities. Normally found in cultures, a rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or living rock such as a cliff. They are a category of art, and sometimes found in conjunction with rock-cut architecture. However, they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art, a few such works exploit the natural contours of the rock and use them to define an image, but they do not amount to man-made reliefs. Rock reliefs have been made in many cultures, and were important in the art of the Ancient Near East. Rock reliefs are generally large, as they need to be to make an impact in the open air. Most have figures that are over life-size, and in many the figures are multiples of life-size, the vertical relief is most common, but reliefs on essentially horizontal surfaces are also found. The term typically excludes relief carvings inside caves, whether natural or themselves man-made, natural rock formations made into statues or other sculpture in the round, most famously at the Great Sphinx of Giza, are also usually excluded. Reliefs on large boulders left in their location, like the Hittite İmamkullu relief, are likely to be included. The term rock art appears in the literature as early as the 1940s. It has also described as rock carvings, rock drawings, rock engravings, rock inscriptions, rock paintings, rock pictures. The defining characteristic of rock art is that it is placed on natural rock surfaces, as such, rock art is a form of landscape art, and includes designs that have been placed on boulder and cliff faces, cave walls and ceilings, and on the ground surface
20.
Asturias
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Asturias, officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous community in north-west Spain. It is coextensive with the province of Asturias, and contains some of the territory that was part of the larger Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages. The most important cities are the capital, Oviedo, the seaport and largest city Gijón. Other municipalities in Asturias include Cangas de Onís, Cangas del Narcea, Gozón, Grado, Langreo, Llanera, Laviana, Lena, Llanes, Mieres, Siero, Valdés, Vegadeo, Asturias is also home to the Princess of Asturias Awards. In the Mesolithic period, a culture developed, that of the Asturiense. Today the Astur Celtic influence persists in place names, such as those of rivers, with the conquest of Asturias by the Romans under Augustus, the region entered into the annals of history. The Astures were subdued by the Romans but were never fully conquered, however, as it had been for the Romans and Visigoths, the Moors did not find mountainous territory easy to conquer, and the lands along Spains northern coast never fully became part of Islamic Spain. In the 10th century, the Kingdom of Asturias gave way to the Kingdom of León, through the rebellion of Henry II of Castile in the 14th century, the Principality of Asturias was established. The most famous proponents of independence were Gonzalo Peláez and Queen Urraca, after its integration into the Kingdom of Spain, Asturias provided the Spanish court with high-ranking aristocrats and played an important role in the colonization of America. Since 1388, the heir to the Castilian throne has been styled Prince of Asturias, in the 16th century, the population reached 100,000 for the first time, and within another century that number would double due to the arrival of American corn. During the 18th century, Asturias was one of the centres of the Spanish Enlightenment, the renowned Galician thinker Benito de Feijóo settled in the Benedictine Monastery of San Vicente de Oviedo. Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a polymath and prominent reformer and politician of the late 18th century, was born in the town of Gijón. At the same time, there was significant migration to America and these entrepreneurs were known collectively as Indianos, for having visited and made their fortunes in the West Indies and beyond. Asturias played an important part in the events led up to the Spanish Civil War. For a month, a Popular Front Committee exercised control in southern Asturias, a war committee dominated by anarcho-syndicalist supporters took power in Oviedo. Troops under the command of a then unknown general named Francisco Franco Bahamonde were brought from Spanish Morocco to suppress the revolt, Franco applied tactics normally reserved for overseas colonies, using troops of the Spanish Legion and Moroccan troops, ferocious oppression followed. As a result, Asturias remained loyal to the government during the Spanish Civil War, and was the scene of an extraordinary defence in extreme terrain. With Franco eventually gaining control of all Spain, Asturias — traditionally linked to the Spanish Crown — was known merely as the Province of Oviedo from 1939 until Francos death in 1975, the provinces name was restored fully after the return of democracy to Spain, in 1977
21.
Basque Country (autonomous community)
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The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, the Basque Country or Basque Autonomous Community was granted the status of nationality within Spain, attributed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The term Basque Country may also refer to the cultural region, the home of the Basque people. The territory has three areas, which are defined by the two parallel ranges of the Basque Mountains. The main range of forms the watershed between the Atlantic and Mediterranean basins. The highest point of the range is in the Aizkorri massif, the three areas are, Formed by many valleys with short rivers that flow from the mountains to the Bay of Biscay, like the Nervión, Urola or Oria. The coast is rough, with cliffs and small inlets. The main features of the coast are the Bilbao Abra Bay and the Estuary of Bilbao, the Urdaibai estuary, between the two mountain ranges, the area is occupied mainly by a high plateau called Llanada Alavesa, where the capital Gasteiz is located. The rivers flow south from the mountains to the Ebro River, the main rivers are the Zadorra River and Bayas River. From the southern mountains to the Ebro is the so-called Rioja Alavesa, some of Spains production of Rioja wine takes place here. Precipitation average is about 1200 mm, the middle section is more influence by the continental climate, but with a varying degree of the northern oceanic climate. This gives warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters, the Ebro valley has a pure continental climate, winters are cold and dry and summers very warm and dry, with precipitation peaking in spring and autumn. Precipitation is scarce and irregular, as low as 300 mm, almost half of the 2,155,546 inhabitants of the Basque Autonomous Community live in Greater Bilbao, Bilbaos metropolitan area. Of the ten most populous cities, six form part of Bilbaos conurbation, with 28. 2% of the Basque population born outside this region, immigration is crucial to Basque demographics. Over the 20th century most of this came from other parts of Spain, typically from Galicia or Castile. Over recent years, sizeable numbers of population have returned to their birthplaces and most immigration to the Basque country now comes from abroad. Roman Catholicism is, by far, the largest religion in Basque Country, bilbao-Bilbo Vitoria-Gasteiz San Sebastián-Donostia Barakaldo Getxo Irun Portugalete Santurtzi Basauri Errenteria Spanish and Basque are co-official in all territories of the autonomous community. The Basque-speaking areas in the autonomous community are set against the wider context of the Basque language, spoken to the east in Navarre
22.
Caves in Cantabria
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The Cantabrian caves unique location make them an ideal place to observe the settlements of primitive man thousands of years ago. The magnificent art in the caves includes figures of animals of the time such as bison, horses, goats, deer, cattle, hands. The cave of Las Aguas is located in the town of Novales and this cave contains rock art, including two bison carved and painted in red, a doe, a horse, a clavate, a sign on the grill and several more configurations. These remains have been dated chronologically in the early or middle Magdalenian period, the Cave of Altamira is located near Santillana del Mar. The cave has been included in UNESCOs World Heritage Site since 1985, the Cave of la Clotilde is located in the town of Santa Isabel de Quijas in the region of Reocín. The cave of Cualventi is located in the town of Peralada, cullalvera Cave is located in the municipality of Ramales de la Victoria, capital of the comarca of Valley of the Asón River. These forms in conjunction with prehistoric remains make the cave one of the most visited of the region. Remains of a reservoir and rock art, both from the Paleolithic have been found here. The Cave of Chufín is located in the village of Riclones and it is located at the confluence point of several rivers and Nansa Lamasón in an environment with steep slopes amongst other caves with rock art. Chufín contains different levels of occupation, the oldest being around 20,000 years old, even though the cave is small and of profound simplicity it subtle red paintings of deer, goats and cattle which are represented very schematically and a large number of symbols. One group, called sticks, accompanies the animal paintings inside the cave, there are also a large number of pointillist drawings, including some around each hole in the rock which have been interpreted as a representation of a vulva. The cave has been included as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since 2008, the Cave of La Estación is located near the cave of La Clotilde, in Santa Isabel de Quijas. It is notable for paintings in a room representing horses and other signs which are not identifiable. Fuente del Salín Cave is located in the municipality of Val de San Vicente, the path is accessible only in times of drought, because it lies along an underground river. The Cave of La Garma is located north of the village of Omoño and it was found to wall paintings and fossils in a Lower Gallery, one of the best preserved Magdaleinian period floors. It is part of the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain World Heritage Site, the Cave of Hornos de la Peña Cave was discovered in 1903 and is situated on a hill near the village of Tarriba, San Felices de Buelna. The paintings were dated to the initial or middle Magdalenian period, the cave of El Linar is located in La Busta, a town in the municipality of Alfoz de Lloredo. The path is an arroyo of more than 7 kilometers with three mouths which join the stream of Busta, Paleolithic materials have been detected and also remnants of Magdalenian era occupations
23.
Puente Viesgo
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Puente Viesgo is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. Caves have been discovered near Puente Viesgo that contain rock art and artefacts dating back to the Middle, the various populations of Puente Viesgo are documented since the year 1000 by the abbey of Santillana del Mar. These documents describe a bridge over the river Pas, from which comes the name of the municipality, there are paintings of bison and horses, and large numbers of handprints, made by blowing mineral particles onto a hand pressed against the cave wall. These are believed to be the oldest examples of art in the region. One red disc was found to be 40,800 years old, another cave nearby is the Cueva de las Monedas. The paintings here are black, being made with coal, and depict horses, goats, bears, bison, the pictures of reindeer are believed to date back to the last ice age, about 13,000 years ago. Also in the municipality is the Cueva de La Pasiega, part of the World Heritage Site that includes the Cave of Altamira and palaeolithic cave art of Northern Spain. Puente Viesgo is in the valley of the River Pas and is located in the part of Cantabria, about 30 kilometres west of the regional capital. It is surrounded by the verdant countryside of the coastal strip, the economy has traditionally been based on agriculture but now many people are employed in the tourist industry. The municipality consists of the villages, Aés, Hijas, Las Presillas, Puente Viesgo, the population at the last census was 2,800, giving a density of 78 inhabitants per square kilometre
24.
Camargo, Cantabria
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Camargo is a municipality in the province and autonomous community of Cantabria, northern Spain. Ayuntamiento de Camargo Camargo - Cantabria 102 Municipios
25.
Ribadesella
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Ribadesella is a small municipality in the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias, Spain. Known for its location on the Cantabrian Sea, as well as for the outlet of the River Sella, Ribadesella is a town that forms part of the Picos de Europa. It is bordered on the east by Llanes, on the south by Cangas de Onís and Parres, and on the west by Caravia. The first weekend of August, the famous Descenso Internacional del Sella takes place and this town is also known for its prehistoric caves, known as the caves of Tito Bustillo, which are open to visitors year round. Ribadesella also offers its visitors history, sport activities, beautiful scenery, nature, and impeccable food, the municipality includes the Tito Bustillo Cave, known for prehistoric wall paintings of animals and figures, probably dating from the Magdalenian age. The first written references to the settlement are more recent, and these come from the Greek geographer Strabo, who speaks of the River Noega separating the Astures of Cantabrians. The people of Ribadesella at this time were called the Salaenos, they dominated Colunga, Arriondas, Ribadesella has two main streets, the Gran Vía de Agustin Argüelles, and CalleComercio. In this part of Ribadesella, there are a few banks, pharmacies, restaurants/bars, stores, here also lies the Casco Antiguo, where the old plaza is located, as well as Ribadesella’s church, Iglesia Parroquial de Sta. In this part of town lie small stores of homemade products, the third part of Ribadesella consists of the Paseo Marítimo del Puerto, or the coast of the town that lies near the water. Today, this paseo is dedicated to the princess of Asturias, the race begins in Arriondas, and finishes at the end of the River Sella, located in the “center” of Ribadesella. Other festivals are celebrated with food, music, and dancing with original bagpipe/Asturiano music, the Feria del Queso de Cuerres and La Fiesta del Pez de Tereñes are other festivals celebrated throughout Ribadesella. Semana Santa, or Easter week is very important in Ribadesella, processions are carried out daily, and great celebration, including a horse race/spectacular on the Santa Marina beach is held each year
26.
Cabrales
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Cabrales is a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias, northwestern Spain. It is situated between the Sierra de Cuera and the Picos de Europa, and is a famous for its Cabrales cheese. Important towns within the municipality include Arenas de Cabrales, one of the objectives of the Battle of El Mazuco in 1937. Nowadays Arenas economy seems to be based on tourism, although unlike many tourist centres it retains its authentic style –. Cabrales municipality is divided into 9 parishes, Berodia Bulnes Carreña Las Arenas Poo Prado Puertas Sotres Tielve
27.
Gipuzkoa
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Gipuzkoa is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián and it is located at the easternmost extreme of the Cantabric Sea, in the Bay of Biscay. It has 66 kilometres of coast land, with a total area of 1,980 square kilometres, Gipuzkoa is the smallest province of Spain. The province has 89 municipalities and a population of 715,148 inhabitants, apart from the capital, other important cities are Irun, Errenteria, Zarautz, Mondragón, Eibar, Hondarribia, Oñati, Tolosa, Beasain and Pasaia. The oceanic climate gives the province an intense green color with little thermic oscillation, Gipuzkoa is the province of the Basque Country where the Basque language is most extensively used,49. 1% of the population speak Basque. The first recorded name of the province was Ipuscoa in a document from the year 1025, during the following years, and in various documents, several similar names appear, such as Ipuzcoa, Ipuçcha, Ipuzka, among others. The full etymology the word Gipuzkoa has not been fully ascertained, according to this, ipuzko might refer to something to the north or in the north. Gipuzkoa is the Basque spelling recommended by the Royal Academy of the Basque language, the Basque spelling is also mandatory in official texts from the various Spanish public administrations, even in documents written in Spanish. It is the spelling most frequently used by the Spanish-language media in the Basque Country and it is also the spelling used in the Basque version of the Spanish constitution and in the Basque version of the Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country. Gipuzkoa is also the official spelling approved for the historical territory by the Juntas Generales of the province. It is also the Spanish spelling used in the Spanish version of the Constitution, at 1,980 km2 Gipuzkoa is the smallest province in Spain. The province has 88 municipalities and 709,607 inhabitants, a quarter of live in the capital. Gipuzkoa is hilly and green linking mountain and sea, and heavily populated with numerous urban nuclei that dot the whole territory, the conspicuous presence of hills and rugged terrain has added to a special leaning towards hiking, nature and mountains on the part of Gipuzkoans. Some mountains have an emblematic or iconic significance in the tradition, their summits being topped with crosses, memorials. In addition, pilgrimages which have gradually lost their religious zeal. Some renowned mountains are Aiako Harria, Hernio, Txindoki, Aizkorri and Izarraitz, the Aralar Natural Park is a conservation area on the border of Gipuzkoa and Navarre in the Aralar Range. The rivers of Gipuzkoa are distinctly different from other Bay of Biscay rivers and they arise in the hilly Basque inland landscape, flow in a south- north direction, forming close, narrow valleys before joining the ocean. From west to east the rivers are the Deba, Urola, Oria, Urumea, Oiartzun, except for a narrow strip extending east from the hamlet Otzaurte and the tunnel of San Adrian, the province drains its waters to the Atlantic basin
28.
Biscay
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Biscay is a province of Spain located just south of the Bay of Biscay. The name also refers to a territory of the Basque Country. It is one of the most prosperous and important provinces of Spain as a result of the massive industrialization in the last years of the 19th century, since the deep deindustrialization of the 1970s, the economy has come to rely more on the services sector. It is accepted in linguistics that Bizkaia is a cognate of bizkar, “Bizkaia” is the Basque denomination recommended by the Royal Academy of the Basque language, and it is commonly used on official documents on that language. It is also used on documents in Spanish, and it is the most used denomination by the media in Spanish in the Basque Country. It is also the used in the Basque version of the Spanish constitution. Bizkaia is also the official denomination approved for the historical territory by the Juntas Generales of the province. “Vizcaya” is the denomination in Spanish, recommended by the Royal Spanish Academy and it is used in non-official documents and, in general, by Spanish speakers. It is also the Spanish denomination used in the Spanish version of the Constitution, Biscay has been inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic, as attested by the archaeological remains and cave paintings found in its many caves. The Roman presence had little impact in the region, and the Basque language, Biscay was identified in records of the Middle Ages, as a dependency of the Kingdom of Pamplona that became autonomous and finally a part of the Crown of Castile. The first mention of the name Biscay was recorded in an act to the monastery of Bickaga. According to Anton Erkoreka, the Vikings had a base there from which they were expelled by 825. The ria of Mundaka is the easiest route to the river Ebro and at the end of it, in the modern age, the province became a major commercial and industrial area. Its prime harbour of Bilbao soon became the main Castilian gateway to Europe, later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, the abundance of prime quality iron ore and the lack of feudal castes favored rapid industrialization. The first evidence of dwellings in Biscay happens in this period of prehistory. Mousterian artifacts have been found in three sites in Biscay, Benta Laperra, Kurtzia and Murua, chatelperronian culture can be found in Santimamiñe cave. The Benta Laperra cave has the oldest paintings, maybe from the Aurignacian or Solutrean period, bison and bear are the animals depicted, together with abstract signs. The murals of Arenaza and Santimamiñe were created in later periods, in Arenaza female deer are the dominant motif, Santimamiñe features bison, horses, goats and deer
29.
Aia
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Aia is a small village situated on the slopes of Mount Pagoeta in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain. It is located 30 km to the west of Donostia-San Sebastián, Aia is set amongst hills and forests, and surrounded by mountains. The town still retains its ancient character, with the large Church of San Esteban building as an impressive centrepiece, the population of Aia has gradually declined since the 1950s, to a population of 1,750 in 2005. Based on cave paintings and engravings and also stone implements that have found in the Aia district. The town of Aia itself was mentioned in one of the oldest documents of Gipuzkoa dated 1025, the town was also mentioned as being part of the Union of Sayaz in the Decree of the Brotherhood of the Province of Gupuzkoa in 1375. Farming was originally the main activity in the Aia district, with families of the small villages living within closed. Land was generally owned by the municipality and rented to the farmers to work, specialised crafts also began to develop, and in particular Aia became a main centre for the production of iron. This was largely due to the abundance of natural deposits of iron in the area, numerous foundries were established in the area, which had a significant impact on the growth of the local population. It was from these foundries that many family lineages in the Aia district developed, the demise of these old forges in Guipúzcoa was brought about by the introduction of blast furnaces that ran on coal. Aia is known for its beauty, still situated amongst Basque farmlands largely unchanged over the past couple of hundred years. It has several attractions that are well known across the province. The 1, 335-acre Pagoeta Nature Reserve sits just to the west of the town of Aia and preserves not only the beauty of the area. The park contains numerous ruins of old mills, foundries, and farmhouses, the Agorregi Forge, located within the park, is one of the best preserved examples of a foundry in Gipuzkoa province. The forge which can be seen today was built in 1754 by the Lord of Laurgain Palace over the ruins of an earlier version. Lying at the bottom of a valley near Manterola farmhouse, it used the rivers hydraulic energy to power its great bellows. Also situated near Aia and within the Pagoeta Nature Reserve is the Iturraran Botanic Garden, the garden was established in 1986 and includes more than 1,000 species of plants, trees, and shrubs from all over the world. It also includes some endangered flora of the Basque Country, Aia is a municipality formed by a principal nucleus, which is the town of Aia, and its numerous barrios that resemble small villages. It is usually considered that Aia is composed of eleven barrios, Alzola, andatza o San Pedro,249 inhabitants
30.
Deba, Gipuzkoa
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Deba is a town located in the province of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, in the North of Spain. The town centre is right on the sea, and the district includes a series of charming country villages, such as Itziar, Lastur. The natural setting is a combination of blue sea and green mountains. Traditionally, the attraction of Deba is based on the beauty of the landscape, its heritage, centuries-old culture. Today, it is reinforced with modern facilities, and entertainment, Deba is a town of summer residents, but it is also on the St James’s Way. Thousands of years before Deba was founded, the relationship with sea. The shell deposits and bone found in many caves in the Deba municipal districts. Curiously, thousands of year later, Roman chronicles also cite the coast and the Deba, the towns origins date back to 1343. History tells that Sancho IV of Castile granted the citizens of Monte-Real, in Itziar, subsequently, they moved closer to the coast and founded a new settlement that they called Monreal de Deba. In the 15th century, Deba enjoyed a period of due to shipping, particularly with the export of wool from Castile. In the 19th century the port declined and a new activity began, debas relationship with the sea changed when the town became one of the pioneers of tourism in Europe. Currently, Deba still faces the sea with a taste of salt in the air, the town offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy a unique coast and a modern spa, thus combining fun with therapy. It has a festival called San Roke festivities. Http, //ocio. diariovasco. com/fotos-fiesta/deba-sanroke1. php. foto=11 Official Website Information available in Spanish, DEBA in the Bernardo Estornés Lasa - Auñamendi Encyclopedia Information available in Spanish
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