Painted Cave, Galdar

The Painted Cave, Galdar (Museo y Parque Arqueológico Cueva Pintada) is an archaeological museum and park in the town of Gáldar, located in the northwest of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, Spain. The centre is part of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, Historic Heritage and Museums of the town council of Gran Canaria. It houses some of the most representative archaeological vestiges of pre-Hispanic Canaries, with characteristics unique within Spain. The Painted Cave is considered the 'Sistine Chapel' of the former inhabitants of the island, the Canarii, and is the only location on Gran Canaria that provides evidence of the existence of common wheat on the island. Gran Canaria is the only Canary Island to have painted caves.

The cave was discovered in 1862 during agricultural works, through a hole in its roof, though the 'official discovery' came in 1873 when José Ramos Orihuela visited the site. Gregorio Chil y Naranjo briefly mentioned the cave in his 'Studies' in 1876. Diego Ripoche visited in 1882, making drawings and noting the presence of corpses, pots, and other utensils. Olivia Stone visited in 1884, producing drawings and advocating for government acquisition and protection. French anthropologist René Verneau provided a detailed description in 1887, praising the careful execution of each painted panel. Conservation appeals continued through the early twentieth century, but only in 1967 did a public campaign for protection begin, supported by Celso Martín de Guzmán and Elías Serra Ráfols. The General Commission of Archaeological Excavations began protection work in 1970, addressing humidity damage and constructing a protective enclosure. The site was declared a Monument historique artistique in 1972. Antonio Beltrán and José Miguel Alzola published the first systematic study in 1974 with the first colour photographs and most exact drawings to that date. The site was closed to the public in October 1982 due to ongoing deterioration from nearby agricultural irrigation, inadequate enclosure protection, unplanned visits, chemical soil treatments, and poor ventilation. Excavations in the surrounding area began in 1987, revealing that the cave was part of a prehistoric settlement with more than fifty houses and additional caves. The Painted Cave museum and archaeological park reopened on 26 July 2006 after twenty-four years of excavation, restoration, and fitting for public visits. In 2016, the museum celebrated its tenth anniversary with an exchange with the Altamira cave museum, each lending tens of their most valuable pieces to the other.

The collection encompasses archaeological materials from the pre-Hispanic settlement that existed from the 6th century CE, as well as evidence of continued occupation after the 15th-century conquest. The holdings include locally made decorated ceramic pots and paintings, ceramics made on the pottery wheel on the continent, coins from the 15th and 16th centuries, swords, horseshoes, nails, and everyday items such as thimbles and knives. Most metal items were imported. The local pottery was hand-made, with many pieces presenting a finely polished surface and decorated with ochre red paint applied before firing in a hole in the ground. Some pots are entirely covered with geometrical patterns, including on the bottom. Gran Canaria is the only Canary Island where painted pottery has been found. The collection also includes fired clay statues of idols with human and animal figures, most of the human idols being feminine and many associated with maternity. Some statues' bodies are decorated with red paint and incisions marking the hair; these may have been offerings, amulets, or toys. Bone tools include needles, stamps, and spatulas made of sheep or goat bones. The site also yielded pintaderas (seal stamps) and ídolos. Pintaderas, statuettes, utilitarian objects, and jewellery from various materials are displayed in separate exhibition rooms. The finds, together with food waste and remains, provide insight into the living conditions of the Canarios and were used to create a reconstruction of the indigenous inhabitants' dwellings and living conditions for visitors.

The centrepiece is the Painted Cave itself, a rectangular chamber measuring approximately 4.53 by 4.26 metres in length and 5.00 by 4.90 metres in width, with a height of 3.22 metres. The floor contains a series of pits approximately 20 cm deep. The walls are decorated with geometrical patterns in three colours: red ochre, white clay, and the natural black colour of the substrate. The most frequent motif is a square divided into two triangles, filled black-red or black-white and outlined in white or red, arranged in multiple rows and columns. Some larger adjacent and superimposed undivided squares are black-red filled with white outlines. Another twice-occurring motif is a white vertical stripe containing a row of red angles. Some red stripes are decorated with white triangles like a saw. On some red surfaces, white circles appear with one or two additional concentric circles. The paintings are arranged in fields covering the entire width of the present front wall and parts of two other walls, beginning at heights of 1.90 and 1.75 metres above the floor. Archaeologists believe that, due to their regular distribution, usually in series of twelve, the patterns could constitute a kind of calendar. The cave is the only location on Gran Canaria that brought proof of the existence of common wheat on the island (triticum aestivum or triticum durum, as the seed grain makes differentiation difficult).

The museum and archaeological park were constructed over the archaeological site in the historic centre of Gáldar. An area of 5,700 square metres was roofed over to protect the remains. Visitors can traverse the archaeological site on elevated walkways and viewings. The complex includes reconstructed indigenous dwellings, exhibition rooms, information spaces, and laboratories. The installation was designed to allow public visits without further endangerment of the paintings and other historic items. The cave itself was excavated by humans in volcanic material, specifically tuff stone, and probably created in the 7th century CE, with its paintings added in the 12th century. The surrounding settlement, which extended across the entire slope of the barranco, included more than fifty houses and numerous caves on an area exceeding 6,000 square metres. Written sources from the 15th century indicate that the Guanarteme, the ruler of the northern part of the island, had his seat in the place then called 'Agaldar'.

The Painted Cave is located at number 2 Audiencia street, in the centre of Gáldar, 27 km west of Las Palmas and 50 km northwest of the international airport of Gran Canaria. Entry is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All visits are accompanied by a guide and must be booked. Four languages are available. The museum's mission encompasses the conservation, cataloguing, and exhibition of archaeological materials; the management and conservation of the site; the development of educational and dissemination programmes; and research within its specialisation, particularly that related directly to the conservation of the decorated chamber. Facilities include a didactic classroom for educational activities, laboratories, a library, and a multipurpose room, enabling researchers and restorers to develop work that positions the museum as a reference centre in the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge. The institution publishes the Revista Virtual Arqueológica and Cuadernos de patrimonio, among other works.