Ancient tools link rock art to daily life in Portugal
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Archaeologists in Portugal’s Côa valley uncovered stone tools dating to 26,000 years ago near a significant rock art panel, revealing that prehistoric hunter-gatherers created art as part of their everyday lives.
For three weeks, a team led by Thierry Aubry from the Côa Park Foundation excavated alongside ancient engravings, searching for evidence of how the art functioned.
They discovered razor-sharp stone slivers used as hunting weapons within layers also containing hearths and other tools, demonstrating people lived and worked directly beside the art. This discovery challenges the previous idea that rock art was limited to sacred or remote locations. Luís Luís from the Côa Park Foundation explains this suggests the art was “part of daily life,” not just reserved for religious rituals.
The site’s location within the Côa valley, the largest open-air collection of Palaeolithic rock art in the world, further supports this idea, as the dry climate and local schist rock preserved the art in the open air. Researchers believe the art served multiple purposes, including transmitting mythology and practical hunting information.
The convergence of flint sourced from distant regions, some 150 to 200 kilometers away, indicates the Côa valley was a central meeting place for groups exchanging goods and ideas across the Iberian peninsula. João Zilhão at the University of Lisbon suggests the art functioned as a “shared code of representation” between these interconnected communities, much like how Aboriginal Australian communities use rock art today.
The team plans to continue studying the site to further understand the relationship between the art and the people who created it.
