More than 200,000-year-old engraved stone discovered in Spain

A new find could write the history ofprehistoric art in Marbella in Spain’s Malaga province all over again. During an excavation campaign at the Coto Correa archaeological site in Las Chapas, archaeologists discovered an engraved stone block whose preliminary dating suggests an age of more than 200,000 years. If confirmed, this element could predate the oldest known expressions of rock art by more than 100,000 years.

The announcement comes from the Delegación de Cultura, Enseñanza y Patrimonio Histórico, which is coordinating studies on the area. Coto Correa is already known to experts for the presence of the city’s oldest remains and has enjoyed archaeological protection since the last century, when some lithic tools dating back to the earliest stages of the Paleolithic period were discovered in the 1950s.

A discovery that changes the perspective on Marbella’s prehistory.

The archaeological intervention, which began in 2022, has made it possible to reconstruct the geological evolution of the site, but also to identify an important set of worked lithic tools buried in one of the soil layers. Among these precisely, the engraved stone block emerges as a true unicum in terms of its characteristics.

The importance of the discovery is twofold: first, it confirms the human presence in Marbella during the Middle Early Paleolithic, a period little studied in Spain and so far completely unheard of in Malaga province. Second, the engravings on the stone, attributed with certainty to the human hand, could constitute one of the oldest graphic representations in history. If the preliminary dating is verified, the stone block would predate (by about 100,000 years) the oldest known cave paintings, so far attributed to the Upper Paleolithic and linked to more advanced human cultures.

Ongoing studies: 3D dating and digitization.

To further investigate the significance and scope of the discovery, the delegación de Cultura has launched a detailed investigation of the stone and the stratigraphic context in which it was found. The first objective is to confirm the hypothesized dating through advanced analyses, which will involve examining the quartz present in the surrounding sediments. Absolute dating techniques will allow the age of the engraved block and its depositional layer to be determined more accurately. At the same time, the find will undergo a process of 3-D digitization, a technology that will allow for a very high-resolution virtual reproduction of the engravings, facilitating the analysis of the artifact and distinguishing any traces of intentional workmanship from natural or accidental marks. In addition, 3-D modeling will be an essential tool for the dissemination of the results, allowing scholars from around the world to access the data and contribute to the research.

The current phase of the studies is funded with a sum of 8,000 euros, a sum intended to cover scientific analysis and digital documentation of the find, and if the analyses confirm the antiquity of the engraved block, Marbella could become an international reference point for Paleolithic studies. Such recognition would attract new research projects and increase interest in the local archaeological heritage, while also boosting cultural tourism. Once the studies are completed, the delegación de Cultura plans a series of popular events to present the find to the scientific community and the general public.

More than 200,000-year-old engraved stone discovered in Spain

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.