Duncan Caldwell writes me with the following clarifications, in his own words:
“Duncan Caldwell is a prehistorian, evolutionary theorist, and impassioned defender of prehistoric art. Fifteen years ago, he launched an international campaign to save the richest assemblage of Paleolithic art outside of caves in Europe – and perhaps the world – from being flooded behind a new Portuguese dam. The combined effect of such protests finally persuaded the Portuguese government to halt the construction, declare the threatened zone the country’s first archaeological park, and even build a magnificent museum that’s about to open. But there’s a catch: every few months an editorial appears in the Portuguese press inveighing against the decision to halt the dam and local archaeologists have told Duncan that the dam’s supporters are lying in wait – hoping that the museum won’t attract many tourists so they can say “We told you so!” and resume flooding the valley.
Here is the beginning of Duncan’s original impassioned plea. To read the rest – and an up-date on continuing efforts to celebrate – and save – the cornucopia of art at Foz Coa, visit his website using the link pasted below.”
“I just got back from a pilgrimage to the Coa valley in Portugal, where I was given night tours of 22,000 year-old friezes and a preview of the museum that’s about to open. As one drives up to a cliff overlooking the gorge, the museum is nowhere in sight, since one arrives on its roof, which is worked into a crest overlooking the valley. To make it even more fitting, the same slate that the art is engraved on in the valley was powdered into the cement, which was then held in place by huge slate slabs that lent their grain to the rock-colored walls. They’re so suggestive that one can’t help but look for Paleolithic engravings of animals even in the concrete!
The only thing that suggests that there is a building below is a fissure with a ramp down into the darkness. After descending it with trepidation, one finds oneself in a palace of halls lit by tall narrow slits. It’s all state-of-the-art and flashy, but my favorite rooms are unfortunately the ones housing replicas of art panels that were found when the water dropped for a few days behind an existing dam. Hundreds of aurochs, deer, horses and ibex cover a single monumental slab that deserves to be made into a UNESCO World Heritage Site just for its own sake! Even though I knew much of the art that remains above water because of my clandestine survey of the valley while a 300-million-dollar dam was being built to create a second, higher reservoir 15 years ago, I was blown away. This was like flooding part of Lascaux!”
A male ibex with his head shown in two positions, as if he were turning to watch the female behind him. Quinta de Barca, opposite Penascosa. Côa Valley.
© 1995 on text, 2010 on photos, Duncan Caldwell
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