Prehistoric Rock Art, Côa Valley 
The rugged Coa Valley. Photo by Daniel Cohen.
A specialist guide explains some of the rock art. Photo by Daniel Cohen.
A Portuguese postage stamp proudly bears the art of the Coa Valley.
In the mountains of northeast Portugal is the Côa Valley, home to a remarkable set of prehistoric rock carvings that have been designated a World Heritage Site. The rock art sites are located west of Salamanca, Spain, and northeast of Tomar, Portugal. (See Portugal map.)
The Coa Valley petroglyphs are special for several reasons: (1) they span a long period of time — from Upper Paleolithic and Iron Age all the way to the modern era, when carvings of airplanes appear; (2) the size of the area is unusually large, spanning over 17 km along the course of the River Coa; and (3) all the carvings are in the open air rather than in caves.
"The Upper Palaeolithic rock-art of the Côa valley is an outstanding example of the sudden flowering of creative genius at the dawn of human cultural development. The Côa Valley rock art throws light on the social, economic, and spiritual life on the life of the early ancestor of humankind in a wholly exceptional manner." - UNESCO
"This place is a find if there ever was one - go, World Heritage conoisseurs, before mainstream tourists find out about it!" - Sheila Ross, Canada
History
The rock art at Coa was created over several thousand years, beginning in the Upper Paleolithic Era (40,000-10,000 BC) and continuing intermittently all the way to the 20th century AD! The themes of the earliest engravings are mostly of animals, especially mountain goats, horses, aurochs (wild hulls) and deer. The first three are the most common and are characteristic of the earliest phases of art in western Europe. There are also some rare engravings of fish and one instance of a human form during this period, at the end the Upper Paleolithic Age (it's at Ribeira de Piscos).
The petroglyphs from the Iron Age include many panels of fine line engravings of figures, especially warriors with long legs and tiny heads, armed with swords and lances and riding stylised horses with long, thin bodies and high necks.
The cycle of rock art began again in the 17th century AD, with the engraving of religious and profane motifs. This continued until the mid-20th-century with engravings depicting the various ''creatures'' that are most typical of our age: fish and birds, boats, trains and airplanes.
These Palaeolithic rock engravings in the Coa Valley were discovered in the 1990s as part of the planning for a major dam project, which, if completed, would have almost entirely submerged the rock art. But after an international campaign of scientific and media pressure (conducted under the slogan, "Petroglyphs can't swim"), combined with a change of government in Portugal, work on the dam was stopped.
In 1996 the Coa Valley area became a designated archaeological park, and the site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
What to See
The rock-art sites of the Coa Valley are all protected inside a vast archaeological park. There are three main sites: Canada do Inferno, which was the first group of engravings to be discovered, very close to Vila Nova de Foz Coa; Ribeira de Piscos, at Muxagata; and Penascosa, close to the village of Castelo Melhor.
Canada do Inferno is a 130-meter-deep canyon made by the Coa River as it flows into the Douro. Most of the 36 carvings at the site have been submerged under shallow water since 1983 as a result of construction of the Pocinho Dam. Prior to this, the area was a beach lined with east facing, vertically layered rock panels ideal for petroglyphs. Here you'll see paleolithic engravings of ibexes, horses, aurochs and fish. Stylistically post-Paleolithic engravings of deer and goats can also be seen. Visits begin at the Park Office at Vila Nova de Foz Coa.
Ribeira de Piscos is at the south end of Canada do Inferno. This area has fewer petroglyphs than the canyon, but its images are better known. One rock panel depicts two horses crossing their heads; another shows a human figure drawn over a large auroch. At higher elevation there is a panel with extraordinarily realistic fine line engravings of four horses. Visits start at the Visitor Center at Muxagata.
Penascosa is 1 km south of the Ribeira de Piscos site on the other side of the Coa. Here, where the valley opens up, a relatively extensive beach formed from river deposits. More engraved rocks may yet be discovered beneath its sands. Carvings depict ibex, horses, aurochs and some fish. In several cases, the artist tried to convey the concept of animation: in one apparent mating scene, a mare is mounted by a stallion whose three heads suggest the downward movement of his neck. Visits begin at the Visitor Center at Castelo Melhor.
At the Quinta da Ervamoira, in the heart of the archaeological park, is a museum that describes of the region and its ancestral customs, including ancient bread making and Douro wine production.
Quick Facts
Visits to the rock-art sites of the Coa Valley are conducted by specialist guides and must be booked in advance. Visitors are driven to the sites in a bumpy ride in a 4-wheel-drive park jeep; each tour takes about 90 minutes.
Sources
- Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley - UNESCO World Heritage List
- Coa Valley - World Heritage Site (unofficial but excellent website with reviews of UNESCO sites)
- Foz Coa - Portuguese Tourist Office
- Coa Valley Archaeological Park on the Internet (Instituto Portugues de Arqueologia) (official site, lots of info)
- Portugal's Coa Valley - The Cultured Traveler
- Upper Paleolithic - Wikipedia
