The Caves of Altamira

The 20,000-year-old caves of Altamira are among the greatest and the least known of the monuments of prehistory. Closed to visitors to prevent disintegration through pollution, the caves are known only through a replica located in the Archaeological Museum in Madrid. This tour of Altamira shows the cave paintings in their extraordinary power as they depict the daily life of Magdalenian people seeking to bend animal life to their will, while themselves at the mercy of magical powers they sought to placate. The camera is able to clarify what the naked eye cannot-the artistic relationship between the caves themselves and the art with which these proto-Spaniards decorated them. (26 minutes)