TELLBY
English

Ekain cave

Cueva de Ekain · Deba

7 story sections15 min 53 s in all

Cave with cave paintings

History & cultureBY TELLBY

Contents

7 sections · tap a section for its opening lines
  1. 1Orientation2:24

    Welcome to Ekain Cave, situated within the lush green mountain slopes of the Basque region in northern Spain along the tranquil Sastarrain valley. This extraordinary subterranean limestone sanctuary is globally recognized as an…

    Listen in the app
  2. 2Spot 1: The Gateway and the Sentinel Horse Head3:26

    Let us begin our exploration with a truly remarkable historical detail regarding the miraculous discovery of this underground sanctuary. On June first, nineteen sixty-nine, two local amateur speleologists and passionate heritage…

    Listen in the app
  3. 3Spot 2: The Horse Rock Chamber and Gour Pools2:07

    Standing inside this impressive open space, the most surprising fact to comprehend is that Ice Age humans likely chose Ekain Cave as their primary horse sanctuary because nature itself had sculpted a massive block of limestone…

    Listen in the app
  4. 4Spot 3: The Masterpiece Panel of Zaldei2:06

    Welcome to the Zaldei Gallery, widely recognized by prehistorians as one of the absolute zeniths of prehistoric human art. Open your experience with an astounding fact: world-renowned archaeologist Dr. …

    Listen in the app
  5. 5Spot 4: The Hidden Pair of Brown Bears2:09

    Arriving at the Artzei platform, the most surprising fact to comprehend is that while bear depictions are extraordinarily rare across European Upper Paleolithic cave art, virtually all the painted horses throughout the main…

    Listen in the app
  6. 6Spot 5: The Goats, Engraved Deer, and Black Salmon2:14

    Entering the Auntzei gallery, we encounter a fascinating historical paradox: while horses represent nearly sixty percent of all painted animal figures inside Ekain Cave, excavated fauna bones from habitation layers reveal that…

    Listen in the app
  7. 7Closing1:27

    Thank you for joining us on this audio guide journey through the extraordinary Paleolithic sanctuary of Ekain Cave. During the Upper Paleolithic era, modern humans reached an unprecedented pinnacle of cognitive development,…

    Listen in the app

What is Ekain cave?

Ekain cave is a place in Deba with 7 story sections on Tellby. You can read the opening of each section on this page; the sound plays in the app.

Key facts
LocationDeba
TypeHeritage
Story sections7
Total length15 min 53 s in all
Text languageEnglish
Coordinates43.2367, -2.2756
Last updated
Listen in the app