Spanish exhbition highlights 4,600 year old cave burial site

The interior of an inaccessible burial cave estimated at being over 4,683 years old, will be featured in what has been described as Javea’s biggest exhibition of the year. 

The Chalcolithic cave burial site [Credit: EuroWeekly News]

Open from until June 30 at the headquarters of the Cirne Foundation in Avenida de Alicante 18, this ‘Off Cave’ event will consist of 12 display panels reproducing the characteristics of the interior including the discovered remains and the whole process of excavation and subsequent cataloging methods using pointers. 

Illuminated showcases featuring some of the findings and a reproduction of the schematic style paintings will also be on show. 

In addition to the physical display of what is considered to be an archaeological goldmine, Daniel Tejerina of the University of Valencia who was in charge of all 3D scanning and digitalization, has produced a visual to simulate a virtual tour of the cave, just like a video game. 

View from the Montgo cave [Credit: EuroWeekly News]

The cave, ‘Migdia barranc of Montgo’ which is completely inaccessible to the public, was located 375 meters from the sunny slopes of the Mongo and according to local a archaeologist, Ximo Bolufer is, “A necropolis singular and unique, with preserved burial contents carbon-dated back to the Chalcolithic period.” 

The exhibition will also be supplemented by an educational workshop for schools, explaining the discovery and offering practical examples on how to make pottery as existed several millennia ago. 

The exhibition, funded by a grant of €69,504 from the Ministry of Culture, will eventually be installed in the Javea’s archaeological museum, designed to recreate the atmosphere of the Cova de Migdia. 

It is also preparing a documentary explaining the whole process of work done in three excavation campaigns paid for by Cirne. 

Launch of the Cova Migdia Exhibition: left to right: Tejerina Dani, Marco Aurelio Esquembre, Enric Martinez, Javea Mayor Jose Chulvi, Ximo Bolufer: Standing, Juan de Dios Boronat [Credit: EuroWeekly News]

Javea Mayor Jose Chulvi, expressed his appreciation of the work performed by Cirne and said that the project is an excellent example of coordination between authorities, including the Ministry of Culture, the Provincial, City Hall and Cirne. 

He added that the exhibition is a unique reference to the history of our people and a wonderful cultural attraction not only residents, but visitors from around the glob. 

Meanwhile, the final chapter of the ‘Power of the Cave’ and the mysterious burial chambers of Migdia Cova has yet to be written. 

Further DNA studies are being conducted at the German University of Mainz, to delve into the private details of the burials to hopefully discover whether this was a average family vault or something, as suspected, built for a more a important person of the time, such as a tribal leader. 

Author: Benny Davis | Source: EuroWeekly News [June 12, 2012]