Prehistoric Rock-Art Site of Pala Pinta

The Prehistoric Rock-Art Site Pala Pinta (Portuguese: Abrigo rupestre da Pala Pinta) is a Paleolithic-era rock-art site, recognized for cave paintings in the Portuguese municipality of Alijó, in the civil parish of Carlão e Amieiro.^[1]

History

The cave was occupied during the 3rd millennium, and the rock art paintings were likely created during this period.^[2][3][4]

After its discovery, on 30 December 1985, there was a move by the Serviço Regional de Arqueologia da Zona Norte (North Zone Regional Archaeological Service) to have the site classified for protection.^[2][3] There was a positive reaction on 21 April 1986 to the endeavour by the Consultative Council of IPPC. Further initiatives were undertaken on 7 May by the Secretária de Estado da Cultura (Secretary-of-State for Culture) to classify the archaeological site as a National Monument.^[2] Although this was never promulgated, on 18 July 2006, the area was defined as a Zona Especial de Classificação (Special Classification Zone) by the DRPorto.^[2]

Architecture

It was situated in an isolated, rural area in the middle of the hilltop facing the east.^[2][3]

The site includes rock-art paintings over granite surface, covering an area of 12 metres (39 ft) long and 2.50 metres (8.2 ft) high.^[2][3] There roughly two vertical panels, caused by fractures in the cave/clifftop, consisting of monochromatic paintings in ochre of radial imagery (likely sun or stars), points and anthropomorphic representations of figures.^[2][3]

References

Notes

Sources

• Mesquita, Horácio de; Correia, Virgílio (1922), "Arte rupestre em Portugal - A Pala Pinta", Terra Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 145–147{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Junior, Joaquim Rodrigues dos Santos (1933), "O abrigo pré-histórico da Pala Pinta", Trabalhos de Antropologia e Etnologia (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal, pp. 33–43{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Sousa, Orlando (1989), "O Abrigo de Arte Rupestre da Pala Pinta - Alijó", Trabalhos de Antropologia e Etnologia (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal, pp. 191–198{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)