Caves of Monte Castillo

The Cueva del Castillo, or Cave of the Castle, is an archaeological site within the complex of the Caves of Monte Castillo, in Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain. The archaeological stratigraphy has been divided into around 19 layers, depending on the source they slightly deviate from each other, however the overall sequence is consistent, beginning in the Proto-Aurignacian, and ending in the Bronze Age.The El Castillo cave contains the oldest known cave painting: a large red stippled disk in the Panel de las Manos was dated to more than 40,000 years old using uranium-thorium dating in a 2012 study. This is consistent with the tradition of cave painting originating in the Proto-Aurignacian, with the first arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe. A 2013 study of finger length ratios in Upper Paleolithic hand stencils found in France and Spain determined that the majority were of female hands, overturning the previous widely held belief that this art form was primarily a male activity.Cueva del Castillo was discovered in 1903 by Hermilio Alcalde del Río, a Spanish archaeologist, who was one of the pioneers in the study of the earliest cave paintings of Cantabria. The entrance to the cave was smaller in the past and has been enlarged as a result of archaeological excavations. Alcalde del Río found an extensive sequence of images executed in charcoal and red ochre on the walls and ceilings of multiple caverns. The paintings and numerous markings and graffiti span from the Lower Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, and even into the Middle Ages. There are over 150 depictions already catalogued, including those that emphasize the engravings of a few deer, complete with shadowing.

Cueva de La Pasiega, or Cave of La Pasiega, situated in the Spanish municipality of Puente Viesgo, is one of the most important monuments of Paleolithic art in Cantabria. It is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2008, as part of the inscription: Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain.The cave is located in the heart of the uniprovincial community, in the middle of the Pas River valley, around the cave of Hornos de la Pena and Monte Castillo, in the same group of caves as Las Monedas, Las Chimeneas, and the cave of El Castillo. The caves of Monte Castillo form an amazingly complete series, both as regards the material culture of the Old Stone Age and from an artistic point of view. La Pasiega is basically an enormous gallery, its known extent more than 120 meters, that runs more or less parallel to the slope of the mount, opening to the surface at six different places: six small mouths, the majority obstructed, of which two can be accessed for inspection. The principal gallery is approximately 70 meters and opens to deeper secondary galleries, winding and labyrinthine, which in places broaden out to form large chambers. Thus one refers to "room II-VIII", the room called "Gallery B", or "room 11" of "Gallery C", all with paleolithic decorations. The recorded remains belong mainly to the Upper Solutrean and the Lower Magdalenian ages, although older objects are also found. In 2018 uranium-thorium dating revealed a scalariform (ladder shaped) symbol to be older than 64,000 years and therefore made by Neanderthals. Throughout the cave are many 'walls' with paintings and with engraved or incised images. There are representations of equines (horses), cervids (deer, male and female) and bovines (cattle). There are also many abstract symbols (idiomorphs), suggesting patterns of repeated characters.

Puente Viesgo is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain. Caves have been discovered near Puente Viesgo that contain rock art and artefacts dating back to the Middle and Upper Paleolithic.

Vargas is a locality in the municipality of Puente Viesgo, Cantabria. In 2008 its population was 1,339 people.

Castañeda is a municipality located in the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain. According to the 2007 census, the city has a population of 1,621 inhabitants. Its capital is Pomaluengo.

Cantabria—Santander until 1982—is one of the 52 constituencies (Spanish: circunscripciones) represented in the Congress of Deputies, the lower chamber of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales. The constituency currently elects five deputies. Its boundaries correspond to those of the Spanish province of Cantabria. The electoral system uses the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation, with a minimum threshold of three percent.

Cantabria is one of the 59 constituencies (Spanish: circunscripciones) represented in the Senate of Spain, the upper chamber of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales. The constituency elects four senators. Its boundaries correspond to those of the Spanish province of Cantabria. The electoral system uses limited voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. Electors can vote for up to three candidates.

Cantabria (, also UK: , Spanish: [kanˈtaβɾja] ) is an autonomous community and province in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a comunidad histórica, a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east by the Basque autonomous community (province of Biscay), on the south by Castile and León (provinces of León, Palencia and Burgos), on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay). Cantabria belongs to Green Spain, the name given to the strip of land between the Bay of Biscay and the Cantabrian Mountains, so called because of its particularly lush vegetation, due to the wet and temperate oceanic climate. The climate is strongly influenced by Atlantic Ocean winds trapped by the mountains; the average annual precipitation is about 1,200 mm (47 inches). Cantabria has archaeological sites from the Upper Paleolithic period, although the first signs of human occupation date from the Lower Paleolithic. The most significant site for cave paintings is in the cave of Altamira, dating from about 37,000 BCE and declared, along with nine other Cantabrian caves, as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Historically, the territory sits in the area of Cantabria in the ancient period, but from the Late Middle Ages to the early 19th century, the name Cantabria also referred to the territory of the Basques, especially the lordship of Biscay.The modern Province of Cantabria was constituted on 28 July 1778 at Puente San Miguel, Reocín. The yearly Day of the Institutions holiday on 28 July celebrates this. The Organic Law of the Autonomy Statute of Cantabria, approved on 30 December 1981, gave the region its own institutions of self-government.

Zurita is a village in the municipality of Piélagos in Cantabria, Spain. The elevation of this town is 54 meters (177 feet) above sea level, and it is located 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the municipal capital, Renedo de Piélagos; 21 km (13 miles) from the capital of the province, Santander, and 7 km (4.3 miles) from the second largest city in the community, Torrelavega. In 2015 it had a population of 905 inhabitants (INE).

Club de Fútbol Vimenor is a football team based in Vioño de Piélagos, Piélagos in the autonomous community of Cantabria. Founded in 1929 as a section of the factory "Vimenor" ("VIdriera MEcánica del NORte"), the team plays in Tercera Federación – Group 3. The club's home ground is La Vidriera, which has a capacity of 1,500 spectators.

Piélagos is a municipality in Cantabria, Spain.

The Besaya valley (Spanish: Valle del Besaya) is both a comarca located in the center of Cantabria, along the course of the Besaya River, and the natural valley of said river. Its capital is Torrelavega.