• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Time Travel Turtle

A travel blog with stories beyond the brochure

  • HOME
  • ABOUT ME
  • CONTACT ME
  • BY COUNTRY
    • WEST EUROPE
      • Belgium
      • England
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Liechtenstein
      • Luxembourg
      • Netherlands
      • Northern Ireland
      • Scotland
      • Switzerland
      • Wales
    • NORTH EUROPE
      • Estonia
      • Finland
      • Latvia
      • Lithuania
      • Norway
      • Sweden
    • SOUTH EUROPE
      • Cyprus
      • Gibraltar
      • Greece
      • Holy See
      • Italy
      • Malta
      • Portugal
      • San Marino
      • Spain
    • EAST EUROPE
      • Austria
      • Belarus
      • Croatia
      • Czech Republic
      • Hungary
      • Montenegro
      • Poland
      • Serbia
    • NORTH ASIA
      • China
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Mongolia
      • North Korea
      • Tajikistan
      • Uzbekistan
    • SOUTH ASIA
      • Cambodia
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Myanmar
      • Malaysia
      • Nepal
      • Philippines
      • Singapore
      • Sri Lanka
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • NORTH AMERICA
      • Antigua & Barbuda
      • Belize
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Guatemala
      • Mexico
      • USA
    • SOUTH AMERICA
      • Argentina
      • Brazil
      • Chile
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Uruguay
    • AFRICA
      • Egypt
      • Morocco
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
    • OCEANIA
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
    • MIDDLE EAST
      • Jordan
      • Turkey
  • MOST POPULAR
    • The world’s oldest backpacker
    • Orangutans in Borneo
    • The need for speed
    • Trying to get out of the slum
    • The lake swamped with tourism
    • Journey into Dreamland
    • The village where life begins again
    • Is Cambodia safe for travellers?
    • Making the perfect gin and tonic
  • UNESCO

Cave of hands

December 10, 2018 | Michael Turtle | 33 Comments

WORLD HERITAGE SITE

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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

“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.

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

Cave of Hands, Cueva de los Manos, Patagonia, Argentina

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.

This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For more info click here. You can see all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites I’ve visited here.

Reader Interactions

    Comments Cancel reply

  1. Sophie |

    March 23, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Reply

    Fascinating place. Never heard of it, so thanks for sharing 🙂

    • Turtle |

      March 27, 2012 at 2:41 am

      Reply

      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.

  2. Wanderplex |

    March 24, 2012 at 6:29 am

    Reply

    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 🙂

    • Turtle |

      March 27, 2012 at 2:42 am

      Reply

      Let me know if you ever make it there and what you think. It’s pretty awesome, in my opinion.

  3. Heather Caliri |

    March 24, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    Reply

    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…

    • Turtle |

      March 27, 2012 at 2:43 am

      Reply

      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…

  4. Zia Courtney |

    March 28, 2012 at 12:34 pm

    Reply

    What a very relaxing photo and I really love to go this place. Argentina is such a beautiful place!

    • Turtle |

      March 29, 2012 at 3:18 am

      Reply

      Argentina has a lot of variety (it is such a huge country!). There’s a lot of beauty everywhere you go.

  5. Amanda |

    April 13, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    Reply

    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!

    • Turtle |

      April 17, 2012 at 11:18 pm

      Reply

      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!

  6. Dani |

    April 14, 2012 at 5:42 pm

    Reply

    What a fascinating place! Never heard of anything like that.

    • Turtle |

      April 17, 2012 at 11:21 pm

      Reply

      You should put it on your to-do list! 🙂

  7. candice michelle |

    April 23, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Reply

    Wow! this is a great article!

    • Turtle |

      April 25, 2012 at 10:34 pm

      Reply

      Thanks Candice. Glad you enjoyed it.

  8. Frank Förster |

    January 22, 2013 at 6:50 am

    Reply

    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])

  9. suree |

    February 26, 2015 at 4:39 pm

    Reply

    I never knew this amazing place even exist! Thanks for sharing Michael.

    • Michael Turtle |

      March 16, 2015 at 5:39 pm

      Reply

      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.

  10. Cc |

    January 17, 2016 at 5:00 am

    Reply

    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!

    • Michael Turtle |

      January 23, 2016 at 8:51 am

      Reply

      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

  11. Bob |

    October 19, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    Reply

    my friend has subscribed to all of your adds and subscriptions and I ordered something for her and don’t know what it was so we will see what happens yeah? okay bye bye now!!!

  12. lucy |

    October 19, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    Reply

    hi my friend wants to meet you in china. When would you like to meet her.

    • heather |

      October 23, 2018 at 6:12 pm

      Reply

      So does my friend!!!! Could you plan a meet near the great wall of china. At 12:00am SHARP!!!!!

  13. Laina |

    November 17, 2018 at 2:48 am

    Reply

    Hey hey heyyyy im chinese and want to meet!!!

  14. Maureen Allen |

    January 20, 2020 at 7:39 am

    Reply

    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.

Primary Sidebar

This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.

Want Occasional Updates?

Sign up to be the first to hear the latest about the adventures of Time Travel Turtle. You'll also get access to special offers and exclusive news.
Thank you! You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter.

Search

  • PRIVACY POLICY