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Prehistoric Rock-Art Sites in the Côa Valley

Portugal
Date of Inscription: 1998
Criteria: (i)(iii)
Core zone: 130.36 ha
Buffer zone: 20827.06 ha
Province of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, District of Guarda
N41 1 59.988 W7 7 0.012
Ref: 866

Brief Description

This exceptional concentration of rock carvings from the Upper Palaeolithic (22,000–10,000 B.C.) is the most outstanding example of early human artistic activity in this form anywhere in the world.

Justification for Inscription

Criterion i: 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. Criterion iii: 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.

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