Coves del Cogul

Roca dels Moros - Caves of El Cogul


Useful Information

Location: El Cogul, Garrigues, Province of Lleida.
(41°28′0.6″N 0°41′51.5″E)
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Classification: SpeleologyKarst cave
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
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Bibliography: Ramon Huguet (1908): Las pinturas rupestres de Cogul, Ceferí Rocafort, Boletín del Centro Excursionista de Cataluña (Bulletin of the Field Club of Catalonia), 1908.
Address: Coves del Cogul.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
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History

1908 paintings discovered by the el Cogul village rector, Ramon Huguet.
1998 inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

The Roca dels Moros or Coves del Cogul is a rock shelter containing prehistoric cave paintings. They are typical for the Iberian Mediterranean Basin and currently some 700 sites are known across eastern Spain. This type of paintings is also called Levantine rock art and Iberian schematic art. All those sites are listen on the UNESCO WHL.

The site was discovered by a local, the el Cogul village rector Ramon Huguet. It was published in the same year and the site was visited by Abbé Henri Breuil who created copies of the paintings. At Roca dels Moros there are 45 figures, of which 38 are painted bright red, black and dark red, seven are engraved. The most famous scene became known as the Dance of Cogul. Nine women are depicted dancing around a small male figure at the center with an abnormally large phallus.

Rather strange is the fact that some human figures wear skirts. As we do not know about the prehistoric haute couture, we actually do not know if these are females, probably the males of the time were wearing some kind of kilt. Nevertheless, the museum has an exhibition with the title The Past is Female.

The Saladar tombs are nearby, coffin-like holes in the ground which are thought to be a cemetery of Arabic origin.