First published: 25/03/16.

Clyde 1.5

Rock Art Of The Mediterranean Basin

Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin (Inscribed)

Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin by Clyde

I visited this WHS in March 2016. Out of the 758 inscribed sites I focused on the Levantine rock art of Monte Arabí. Monte Arabí is a mountainous elevation with an altitude of 1,068m a few kilometres away from the town of Yecla in Murcia. It is dotted with a number of different caves with different geological formations, prehistoric engravings, prehistoric marks and prehistoric paintings. These range from simple geometric drawings to figures of humans and animals, including hunting scenes which are still exposed in open air and only protected with cage-like gates. Initially I had planned to visit the Cova dels Cavalls (which has probably the best inscribed example of a painted hunting scene) in Valltorta together with the new museum on my way to Teruel. Due to the Fallas festival I had to change my plans and so I decided to visit the Cueva del Mediodía, the Cueva de la Horadada (only geoligical formations), the Cantos de la Visera I and II and the Arabilejo and its cup and ring marks in the Campo de Cazoletas. I started with an early visit at the archaeological museum in Yecla, known as the Museo Arqueológico Municipal Cayetano de Yecla (MAYE). It has artefacts and information from 4 eras but my main focus for the day was the prehistoric era. There is quite a lot of information on the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Murcia and the usual pottery, tools, bones on display. The most important artefact they have on display is petroglyph stelae. The museum has a very informative app if you're an Apple user. My main goal was to visit Monte Arabí and the rock art in Cantos de la Visera I and II. You can only visit these sites on a tour, if you have a municipal permit or as was my case if you're accompanied by someone from the MAYE. Usually there are tours at 11am but these only take place when there are groups rather than for individuals. On the day of my visit the town of Yecla was like a ghost town as most of the locals were in Valencia for the Fallas festival. However, when the two youngsters on duty at the museum saw my determination to visit the sites and heard that "someone from so far away as Malta had bothered to visit" (most of the tourists that visit are Spaniards), one of them offered to accompany me to the gate on Monte Arabí leading to both sites if I would bring him back to the museum by 2pm (the museum closing time). Sure enough that is what I did and let the guy drive as the trip involved a lot of turns and shortcuts on unpaved roads. We arrived in about 20 minutes but it later took me double that amount to return on my own. More on that later. The walk from the gate to the Cantos de la Visera I and II is a good 20 minute walk on a garigue-like terrain. Don't expect perfect trails so good hiking shoes are definitely a plus. On the first ridge there are around 40 animals depicted dark red, mainly bulls. Only 2 of them were clearly visible because of the natural erosion together with the fact that the enclosures and shade make viewing even more difficult. However, I was thrilled to see the real thing and not a replica this time round. On the second ridge supposedly there are around 70 animals depicted, again mainly bulls but also deer and birds. The only reddish-black painting I could discern here was that of 2 bulls facing each other as it happened to be closest to the enclosure. Towards the top and before going back to the museum we saw the peculiar ring and cup marks at the Campo de Cazoletas which really reminded me of the several 'cart ruts' in Malta and Gozo. We arrived back at the museum at around 13:30 and I couldn't thank the guy enough for his time and generosity. Just before saying goodbye he mentioned another cave in Monte Arabí containing geometric drawings and another one with interesting geological formations which were on the other side of the Monte and with free access for individual visitors. Since I had enough time before heading to Elche, I decided to give it a try to see another aspect of this never-ending series. Getting there was the main obstacle. There are no road signs whatsoever and there are enough hillocks or mountainous elevations nearby Yecla to keep going around in circles for a long time. However, with a bit of luck and asking a few kind passer-bys just outside Yecla, I headed first in the direction of Fuente Álamo and shortly after continued on the right in the direction of Jumilla and Montealegre (del Castillo). After the milestone of KM 12, I spotted a huge Unesco billboard close to an unpaved tractor trail! I followed a sign to Casa de Don Lucio and after a bumpy road I parked my car and walked the last kilometre uphill through the garigue-like terrain to the Cueva del Mediodia. The 'cave' had a number of geometric drawings in 3 colours: a group of human figures with arms entwined in light red, yellowish zigzag figures and a dark red human figure and a figure in the form of highly stylized palm tree with a double symmetrical arched branches (picture). The Cueva de la Horadada only had a couple of geological formations and a hole in the ceiling which I only saw as a short cut on my way back to the car. I really enjoyed my visit mainly because of the difficulty to find any straightforward information about this site and the satisfaction of visiting the actual paintings and not a replica. If I ever visit Teruel, to complete the Mudejar inscription, I'll surely give Valltorta a try as the paintings there seem to be on par with those of Alta, Norway. However, more effort should be done by Spain to offer a coherent and straightforward visit for the interested traveller.

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