Josep Maria Vergès Bosch

Stories

Ice Age engravings found in a heavily visited Catalan cave

Co-author of the 2026 Antiquity study

Visitors walked past the engraved walls of Cova de la Font Major for decades, some carving names over Ice Age marks. In 2019, archaeologist Josep Maria Vergès spotted them under raking light, and researchers now describe 280 Paleolithic motifs, including 55 animal figures.

Updated 2 hours ago

Notable Quotes

For more than six decades, thousands of visitors passed directly in front of the engraved surfaces, and in some cases inscribed names and dates over them, without the Paleolithic origin of the figures being recognized.

from Ice Age engravings found in a heavily visited Catalan cave · Updated 2 hours ago

Almost immediately, among the modern graffiti, I noticed a series of vertical lines that appeared ancient.

from Ice Age engravings found in a heavily visited Catalan cave · Updated 2 hours ago