Archaeologists have uncovered 280 prehistoric engravings hiding among modern graffiti inside the Cova de la Font Major, a popular cave in Catalonia. The chance discovery revealed one of the most significant collections of Ice Age art found anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula.

More than half of Europe’s Upper Palaeolithic cave art is located on the Iberian Peninsula, but most examples cluster along a corridor between northern Spain and the French border. Before this discovery, researchers had found only two decorated sites in Catalonia.

The Cova de la Font Major attracted bounty hunters during the 1950s after archaeologists discovered bronze artifacts in one of its chambers. The cave became a museum in 1993, and guided tours have operated there ever since.

Despite those decades of attention, hundreds of prehistoric engravings remained unnoticed on the walls. Researchers had considered the cave a poor candidate for such art because its limestone conglomerate surfaces are highly uneven in both color and shape.

One side chamber, however, is lined with marl, providing a more uniform surface and a far better canvas. Researchers found 280 engraved Ice Age motifs there, hidden in plain sight among names, dates and other messages left by modern visitors.

The team identified 55 separate animal figures, including horses, goats, deer, bovines and a bear. The remaining motifs contribute to an assemblage that dramatically expands the known record of Palaeolithic art in Catalonia.

Lighting appears to have played a crucial role in keeping the engravings concealed. Archaeologist Míriam Salas-Altès explained, “Both the guides and the visitors lit the walls directly with the lamps on their helmets, and engravings are much harder to see under frontal light.”

The ancient markings may also have been difficult to distinguish from the modern graffiti surrounding them. The breakthrough came when team leader Josep Maria Vergès Bosch removed his helmet while taking a closer look at some of the newer marks.

Light from his torch struck the walls at an angle, producing shadows inside the grooves. “This raking light is the best way to observe engravings, because it creates shadows in the grooves,” he explained.

Vergès Bosch initially noticed several vertical lines that appeared ancient, then saw another one after shifting his position. “Then I turned towards the opposite wall, shone the light across it, and the horse appeared.”

The discovery makes Cova de la Font Major the only major Palaeolithic cave art site in Catalonia. It is also the third largest known assemblage in Mediterranean Iberia, an area extending from the Pyrenees in the north to Gibraltar in the south.

Most known collections across that broad region are substantially smaller. About 75% contain no more than five animal motifs, while more than 90% have no more than 20.

Cova de la Font Major contains 55 separate animal figures, placing it far beyond those typical totals. Its scale provides evidence that Ice Age hunter gatherers created large numbers of engravings in a region previously considered largely devoid of cave art.

The discovery also points to distinct cultural traditions in eastern Iberia. Researchers found that the style differs considerably from art along the northern Iberian corridor and more closely follows artistic conventions associated with the Mediterranean region.

Salas-Altès described the figures as notably spare in their treatment of animal bodies. “Anatomical details are almost completely absent, especially internal ones such as eyes, mouth, nostrils or details of the coat. The limbs are shown in a schematic way, and there is not a single case where the hoof is represented.”

Researchers cannot yet determine precisely when the engravings were created. Evidence shows human activity in the cave 40,000 and 26,000 years ago, though the art could be more recent, and its style suggests it was probably produced no less than 19,000 years ago.

A study detailing the remarkable discovery has been published in the journal Antiquity. The findings bring an extraordinary body of Ice Age imagery into view after decades beneath the direct lights of guides, visitors and treasure hunters.