Newly found human rock painting changes the history of Portugal's Coa Valley

A rock painting depicting a human has been discovered in the Vale do Coa Archaeological Park in northeastern Portugal. The site was mainly known for carvings of animals dating back more than 25,000 years.

According to the University of Coimbra archaeologists, this discovery marks the first example of post-Paleolithic art in this Portuguese valley.

Aida Carvalho, head of the Coa Parque Foundation, which oversees Vale do Coa, noted that the rock with the painting is an example of Levantine art, which mainly depicts scenes from human life.

Until now, Vale do Coa has been known for thousands of rock carvings with fauna motifs, usually silhouettes of aurochs, horses, deer, and goats, made more than 25,000 years ago.

According to Carvalho, the motif painted on the discovered rock in Vale do Coa is "original" because it demonstrates different artistic expression in this Portuguese valley. It confirms that this place remained an area of human artistic creativity even after the Paleolithic era.

She added that archaeologists from Coimbra are currently working to determine the entirety of the motif involving the human figure and to establish the age of the rock painting. Preliminary estimates suggest that it was created no earlier than around 6300 BCE.

Levantine art was widespread in the eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. A characteristic feature is the prominent motif of collective scenes involving humans. These are usually depicted in motion, for example, during hunts, rituals, or battles.

In the Vale do Coa Archaeological Park, discovered in 1992 and added to the UNESCO World Heritage List six years later, several rock paintings have been found in the past. However, they did not depict humans.