The Cueva de las Manos, Spanish for Cave of hands, is a natural and cultural monument in the southwest Argentina in the province Santa Cruz. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999 and contains the most famous cave paintings of southern South America.
background
The cave, which was only discovered by a monk in 1941, is located in the canyon of the Río Pinturas about 80 km south of the small town Perito Moreno (approx. 5,000 inhabitants).
The paintings date from 7,000 to 1,000 BC, according to other sources there are also those from up to 13,000 BC. There is controversy about the dates, because if the older dates are correct, this could be the one that is widespread in the scientific community Clovis theory bring down that all of America was colonized from Alaska. Other sites from the region and southern Chile, some of which even go as far as approx. 30,000 BC. Be dated (esp. Monte Verde) would then be significantly older than the oldest finds in North America, which would rather indicate a separate settlement of South America from Polynesia, for example.
history
landscape
The canyon itself is one of the most spectacular in Patagonia. The Río Pinturas cuts through multi-colored rocks and flows about 60-100 meters below the Meseta. It forms a narrow, bushy green strip that contrasts with the reddish-ocher-yellow bare rocks.
Flora and fauna
While the flora is limited to simple bushes and grasses due to the drought, one can find guanacos, rheas, foxes, hares, armadillos, pumas (very rare and very shy) and snakes in the native animals.
climate
The climate is cool-temperate. The summers are mild and sunny (20 ° C-25 ° C during the day), the winters a bit cloudy and quite cold (around 0 ° C-5 ° C). Snow does occur, but is quite rare because of the drought.
getting there
The best way to get there is via the small town Perito Moreno. This is to the flight network of LOAD as well as connected to the bus network (good connections to Comodoro Rivadavia, the nearest major airport). Organized tours can be booked from Perito Moreno.
Also a tour of El Calafate off is possible, but this means a journey of approx. 500 kilometers via the graveled Ruta 40, public transport is not available.
Fees / permits
For foreigners, entry costs 200 peso in December 2016.
Mobility / access to the cave
The access roads to the cave are not paved. There is one of Bajo Caracoles from, a tiny village 30 km west of the cave, and one directly from Perito Moreno.
Access to the cave is only permitted with a guide. There are several trails in the area that can be hiked.
Cave paintings
Depending on the style, the paintings are divided into three groups, which are labeled with the letters A, B, and C.
Although the Cueva de las Manos is the most important site, there are also comparable paintings in other caves and on rock faces in the gorge. The color of the paintings consists of plaster of paris and iron.
- Group A
Group A is the one with the highest artistic level. It mainly consists of hunting scenes in which Guanacos and people are shown, the people are painted smaller than the guanacos. The human figures are shown in several poses, which reveal a remarkable ability to represent agility. The paintings in this group are in black, yellow ocher, light red and purple.
- Group B
In group B there are mainly static human figures with small heads, representations of guanacos, prints of hands and various abstract representations such as circles, spirals, rows of dots, serpentine lines and rectangles. The paintings are black and purple in color.
- Group C
Group C consists of representations of hands in a negative form, i.e. the outline of the hand was represented by painting over it, as well as relatively large human figures. The hand representations of this kind are only known to this day in this cave. Red tones dominate.
activities
- Hiking and climbing in the Río Pinturas Canyon
- Riding tours in the nearby areas
shop
There is a visitor center where souvenirs and sundries can be bought. Otherwise you have to get supplies in Perito Moreno or Bajo Caracoles.
kitchen
While Bajo Caracoles has no restaurants, Perito Moreno has a few restaurants.
accommodation
In the estancia Los toldos there is one around the canyon Hostería. Most of them will be in Perito Moreno or the neighboring town Los Antiguos at the Lake Buenos Aires stay where there are a large number of hotels, hostels and campsites.
security
trips
There are numerous other caves in the area, some of which contain other paintings. Before you visit, you have to make arrangements with the local population, because there are no organized tours and the access routes are difficult to see. With a little luck you can find a drover to accompany you on the tour, of course for a fee.
