How did experts first react?

Many thought the paintings were fakes

Altamira Cave Quiz: Prehistoric Bison on a Spanish Ceiling

This altamira cave quiz looks up at a ceiling of painted bison. Play 10 interactive questions on the cave in Cantabria, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola and his daughter María spotting the paintings in 1879, experts at first doubting they were genuine, the bulging rock that gives the bison depth, limited visits today and a full-size replica.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Country
In which country is Altamira?
Region
In which region is Altamira?
Who
Who explored the cave when the paintings were noticed?
Girl
Who first spotted the ceiling paintings?
Year
When were the paintings noticed?
Doubt
How did experts first react?
Animal
Which animal dominates the famous ceiling?
Depth
How do the bison seem three-dimensional?
Visit
How can the public see the original today?
Replica
What can visitors see instead?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: In which country is Altamira?
Answer: Spain
In the north.
Q2: In which region is Altamira?
Answer: Cantabria
Near Santillana del Mar.
Q3: Who explored the cave when the paintings were noticed?
Answer: Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola
A local landowner.
Q4: Who first spotted the ceiling paintings?
Answer: His daughter María
She looked up.
Q5: When were the paintings noticed?
Answer: 1879
Before Lascaux.
Q6: How did experts first react?
Answer: Many thought the paintings were fakes
They seemed too skillful.
Q7: Which animal dominates the famous ceiling?
Answer: Bison
In red and black.
Q8: How do the bison seem three-dimensional?
Answer: Artists used natural bulges in the rock
Clever use of the ceiling.
Q9: How can the public see the original today?
Answer: Only very limited visits
To protect it.
Q10: What can visitors see instead?
Answer: A full-size replica cave
Next to a museum.

Bison on a Spanish Ceiling

Altamira Cave lies in Cantabria in northern Spain, near Santillana del Mar. In 1879 landowner Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola was exploring it when his young daughter María looked up and spotted painted bison on the ceiling.

The paintings were so skillful that many experts first dismissed them as fakes, and only decades later were they widely accepted as genuine Ice Age art. The red and black bison appear three-dimensional because the artists used natural bulges in the rock.

To protect the paintings, the original cave allows only very limited visits. A full-size replica next to the museum lets visitors experience the ceiling. Altamira is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What This Quiz Teaches

History fans will enjoy these questions.

Where Altamira is
Who found the paintings
Why experts doubted them
How the bison look
How visitors see them

Did You Know?

Picasso is said to have admired the art.
Some paintings are very ancient.
The cave has many chambers.
Charcoal and ochre were used.
It is called the Sistine Chapel of prehistoric art.