Vandals destroy 8,000-year-old artwork
By: Samantha Kett, thinkSPAINtoday
Heartless vandals have destroyed cave paintings dating back thousands of
years with graffiti.
Fluorescent yellow paint was sprayed over carvings, thought to be around
8,000 years old, inside the Cova de la Clau in Palma de Gandia, last week.
However, they left a 16,000-year-old engraving of a horse in the Cova del
Parpall? untouched.
Gandia?s municipal archaeologist, Joan Cardona, was said to be ?horrified?
at the news.
?It would be like destroying a Goya, a Picasso or a Vel?zquez,? he laments.
Some of the carvings, which were discovered in 2001, have been removed and
are held in various museums throughout the province, but those that remain
have been declared UNESCO heritage sites.
This is not the first time prehistoric engravings in La Safor caves have
been under threat from vandals. Three years ago, graffiti was found in the
Cova del Parpall?, but it had not covered the rock art. A year previously,
dirty blankets and hypodermic needles were found inside the same cave.
Four years ago, the Cova de les Meravelles (?cave of wonders?) in Gandia and
the Cova del Bolomor in Tavernes de la Valldigna suffered damage, their
Paleolithic carvings destroyed by graffiti.
The latest act of criminal damage has raised questions amongst residents and
local authorities, who are concerned about the lack of security in these
areas. Fences that are easy to break down or climb over, and broken
padlocks, are all that keep undesirables out.
