What were the significance of the discovery at altamira
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☆ Significance of the discovery of Altamira Cave :-
The cave was first discovered in 1868 by Modesto Peres, a local hunter searching for his dog, but it wasn't until 1879 that the murals on the ceiling of the cave were spotted by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola a local nobleman and amateur archeologist, when excavating the cave floor for artifacts. Sautuola examined the cave further along with Juan Vilanova y Piera, an archeologist from the University of Madrid, and the pair published a report (1880) stating that the cave's wall paintings and engravings belonged to the Palelithic era of prehistory. Experts who read the report, notably the French scholars Gabriel de Mortillet and Emile Cartailhac, ridiculed its findings at the 1880 Prehistorical Congress in Lisbon, although eventually, in 1902, they and other scientists in the archeological establishment admitted their mistake and acknowledged the authenticity of the Altamira paintings. However not until the anthropologist Henri Breuil (1877-1961) began circulating copies of the paintings in the mid/late 1900s, did the world at large became aware of the true visual significance of the site. For four decades thereafter Altamira was the world's leading showcase of prehistoric ancient art, until its eclipse by the Lascaux cave paintings in the late 1940s.
The cave was first discovered in 1868 by Modesto Peres, a local hunter searching for his dog, but it wasn't until 1879 that the murals on the ceiling of the cave were spotted by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola a local nobleman and amateur archeologist, when excavating the cave floor for artifacts. Sautuola examined the cave further along with Juan Vilanova y Piera, an archeologist from the University of Madrid, and the pair published a report (1880) stating that the cave's wall paintings and engravings belonged to the Palelithic era of prehistory. Experts who read the report, notably the French scholars Gabriel de Mortillet and Emile Cartailhac, ridiculed its findings at the 1880 Prehistorical Congress in Lisbon, although eventually, in 1902, they and other scientists in the archeological establishment admitted their mistake and acknowledged the authenticity of the Altamira paintings. However not until the anthropologist Henri Breuil (1877-1961) began circulating copies of the paintings in the mid/late 1900s, did the world at large became aware of the true visual significance of the site. For four decades thereafter Altamira was the world's leading showcase of prehistoric ancient art, until its eclipse by the Lascaux cave paintings in the late 1940s.
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