Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valley and Siega Verde

An open-air gallery of the Ice Age

The rock-art sites of the Côa Valley form a rare concentration of prehistoric engravings carved into the schist along the banks of the Côa river, in the district of Guarda in north-eastern Portugal. The great majority date from the Upper Palaeolithic, made more than 20,000 years ago, and the valley holds more than 1,200 decorated rocks spread over some 20,000 hectares — the largest open-air complex of Palaeolithic art known anywhere.

A discovery that stopped a dam

The engravings came to light in 1994, during survey work for a planned dam on the Côa. When their existence and importance became public, a national campaign to save them followed; the dam was abandoned, and the valley was protected instead. UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1998.

What the artists carved

The figures were made on vertical schist surfaces using pecking and abrasion, ranging from about 15 to 180 cm across. They depict overwhelmingly animals — horses and aurochs above all, along with ibex and deer — sometimes isolated, sometimes overlapping into dense panels. In 2010 UNESCO extended the site across the border to include Siega Verde in Spain, creating a single transboundary property.

Visiting

Since 1996 the Côa Valley Archaeological Park has run guided visits to several clusters of engravings, complemented by the striking Côa Museum overlooking the river.

• Location: Côa valley, district of Guarda, north-eastern Portugal

• Age: Upper Palaeolithic; more than 1,200 engraved rocks

• Subjects: Mostly horses and aurochs, pecked and abraded into schist

• Status: UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998 (transboundary with Siega Verde since 2010)

• Visiting: Guided tours from the Côa Valley Archaeological Park and museum