World's Oldest Sacred Site? Spanish Cave's Deep History

An extraordinary Spanish cave, potentially the world's oldest continuously used sacred place, has a ritual history dating back at least 24,000 years. Archaeologists are currently investigating this remarkable site, which features a subterranean lake believed to have been sacred.

Evidence indicates ritual use by Stone Age people for cave art around 24,000 years ago and again 16,000 years ago. Later, from 7500 to 3500 years ago, Neolithic and Bronze Age people used the cave for unknown purposes. During the Iron Age (5th-3rd centuries BC), over 200 ceramic chalices suggest religious activities.

By Roman times, approximately 2,000 years ago, the cave appears to have been dedicated to rituals for female reproductive health, evidenced by inscriptions to a goddess called Domina or Malaci, and votive offerings like bracelets and spindle whorls.

Locally known as 'Cova de les Dones' (the Women's Cave) since at least the 18th century, it was used for consummating marriages until the early 20th century. This prolonged association with women suggests a tradition continuity from Roman times through the medieval and early modern eras.

The cave's Stone Age art includes depictions of horses, deer, wild cattle, and abstract signs. Uniquely, remarkable structures built from broken stalactites, such as circles and stairways, may be as ancient as the paintings or even older.

Ongoing investigations have translated inscriptions mostly from women addressed to the goddess Domina or 'Malaci'. This goddess shares similarities with the Roman Bona Dea, a deity of fertility and women's health, whose main shrine was also in a cave with sacred water.

The meaning of 'Malaci' is debated, possibly a personal name, a place name, or related to Phoenician 'm'lakh' (divine messenger) or Etruscan 'mlaka' (votive offerings). However, the cave's unparalleled ritual time depth, potentially exceeding even ancient Australian Aboriginal sites, marks it as globally significant.

Dr. Aitor Ruiz Redondo, co-director of the investigation, highlighted the cave's unique significance due to its 24,000-year continuous ritual use, with Palaeolithic, prehistoric, and Roman remains forming a globally important assemblage.