Cueva de los Manos
“This is the bit where everyone likes to take photos,” my guide tells me as she points to the hands on the cave wall. “This is the most famous part.”
In some ways, it is an unnecessary comment. There is no doubt that this is going to be the highlight of my trip to the Cave of Hands in the middle of rural Patagonian Argentina.
Along the stone wall of the cave are dozens of hand prints. Orange, yellow, red pigments sprayed onto the rock, while hands were placed on its cold hard surface, have left the impressions in negative of the fingers and palms.
I’m the only person here, aside from my guide, and silence fills the valley that stretches for kilometres in both directions.
It hasn’t always been this lonely, though. Nine thousand years ago, a whole community of primitive hunters would pass through this valley and stay in the caves as they followed their prey across Patagonia.
During these stops they would stand where I am now standing, place their palms on the rock, and leave a mark of their existence.
The hands of art
Seven thousand years before the first book was created, and four thousand years before the Egyptians started writing their hieroglyphs on the walls, the hunters of Patagonia were documenting their stories in the art of these caves of hands.
Each print was a personal acknowledgement of their life, and each group of hands a demonstration of their community. Then, around these hands, they drew pictures of their daily activities that are a testament to their culture.
The main source of food was the guanaco, a llama-like animal in easy supply in this area. The drawings on the caves show the men hunting the creatures with primitive weapons but ingenious tactics.
In one tableau, a crack in the rock is used to represent a ravine that the hunters chase the animals into, making them easier to catch.
There are lizards and spiders, pregnant animals, baby animals and even evil spirits in the drawings. The things that make their world what it is are all depicted on the rock.
“What are those dots painted onto the roof of the cave,” I ask the guide.
“They could be the stars in the sky,” she says, “or maybe the marks of a game where the children would throw painted balls into the air.”
She chuckles. “We don’t really understand everything.”
The history of the Cave of Hands
There’s something nice about not knowing everything. The imagination is free to fill in the blanks.
I can picture the tribe sitting here, hunched around a fire, eating their guanaco, turning its skin into clothes, and painting the stories of the day on the walls around them.
I look at those pictures now and a scene comes to life, of men chasing the animals, shouting at each other to surround a herd, of proudly bringing their bounty back to their families.
Their stories haven’t been lost. Their lives haven’t been forgotten. Their paintings are more than just a diary for themselves because they have become a record of the time and a constant reminder of their existence.
The ancient residents of the Cave of Hands have become what every artist, writer and even blogger dreams of being – narrators of history.
Fascinating place. Never heard of it, so thanks for sharing 🙂
Yeah, it was a great place to visit. I don’t think many people go there so happy I could bring it a bit of attention.
This was a pleasure to read – very nice storytelling and lovely photos to boot. I hadn’t heard of this place before but it’s on my bucket list now. Thanks 🙂
Let me know if you ever make it there and what you think. It’s pretty awesome, in my opinion.
Even though I’m only seeing a photo, it seems like those hands are reaching out to ours, touching us through that cold, hard rock…
What a beautiful way to put it! It does feel exactly like that – it’s almost as if the people who made those paintings thousands of years ago are still with us…
What a very relaxing photo and I really love to go this place. Argentina is such a beautiful place!
Argentina has a lot of variety (it is such a huge country!). There’s a lot of beauty everywhere you go.
Wow, I’d never even heard of this place before! Kind of gives you chills, though, to think of handprints that old. Thanks for sharing!
Yeah, it’s not very well-known but it’s so strange to see the hand prints still looking so fresh after all those years!
What a fascinating place! Never heard of anything like that.
You should put it on your to-do list! 🙂
Wow! this is a great article!
Thanks Candice. Glad you enjoyed it.
Dear Michael Turtle,
I’m a research assistant at the University of Cologne, Germany, and currently work on the documentation of a major rock art site in Egypt, the so-called “Cave of Beasts” or Wadi Sura II (for details, please visit our website http://wadisura.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/). In this cave, a lot of hand stencils occur, similar to the Cueva de las Manos.
I was wondering whether you would allow me to reproduce one of your images in high resolution (the 1st, 2nd, or 5th on this website) in a contribution to a scientific, non-commercial volume on the Wadi Sura rock art, edited by Dr. Rudolph Kuper, in order to illustrate the worldwide occurrence of such hand stencils. I would very much appreciate if you could help in this matter (of course you will be cited as the author of the picture!).
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Frank Förster
([email protected])
I never knew this amazing place even exist! Thanks for sharing Michael.
My pleasure. It’s definitely off the usual tourist trail and most visitors would never go there (or even have heard of it). It is hard to get too and I guess I was only able to visit it because I had time. That probably puts off some people.
Hi Michael,
I’m heading to Argentina in a couple of months and very interested in going to this place. How did you get there? I am not driving a car so wondering which town I would have to get to to grab a bus or be picked up for a tour. Kind of hard to find any information about transport options online!
Yeah, it is hard to find info indeed! I would recommend having a look at the buses that this company offers. Depening on which direction you’re travelling, you should be able to find a trip that gets you between places you want to go to that stops at the caves on the way: http://www.chaltentravel.com/main.php
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Immersive narrative. Although I’ll never see this place, I feel the eerie connection because of your writing. I must have a reproduction of these haunting hands.
We will be in El Calafate next March. Are there day trips to go see the cave?