Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Almost a hundred prehistoric rock engravings were located in the municipalities of Guardamar del Segura and Rojales in an investigation carried out by the archaeologist Antonio García Menárguez with the collaboration of the university expert in anthropology, photographer and journalist Eduardo de Gea. The superficial location surveys began at the end of 2020 and could not be completed due to the death of the archaeologist last April.
The investigation determined and identified this type of art for the first time in the region with a total of 17 locations in Rojales and Guardamar. The chronology focuses mainly on the Bronze Age, according to the preliminary conclusions left by Antonio García.
The bowls, petroglyphs or inscultures are artificial holes excavated in natural rock surfaces that were located in isolation or together, some being joined by small channels. Also carved in the horizontal and vertical rocks, most of them have geometric shapes –oval, rectangular and square–, others do not have a clear shape and in a third modality they form drawings such as sheets and presses. Carvings were also located in rock formations forming altars.
Antonio García Menárguez in his initial hypotheses considered that these historical remains were related to prehistoric livestock and transhumance to practice rites and offerings, especially in order to attract rain and increase fertility. Also as road markers and even as terrestrial or constellation cartographies. An exploration group is currently being formed to continue with this pioneering research in the region, as Eduardo de Gea explains: “We think that we are at the beginning of an investigation that will offer many more discoveries and locations, since there is a lot of surface left in the unprospected region.
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