Canyon at the Pinturas River, view from the caves

Cueva de las Manos (Spanish for Cave of the Hands) is a cave located in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, 163 km south from the town of Perito Moreno, within the borders of the Francisco P. Moreno National Park, which includes many sites of archaeological and paleontogical importance. Image File history File linksMetadata SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210079b. ... Image File history File linksMetadata SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210079b. ... Alternate meanings: Cave (disambiguation) This article is about natural caves; for artificial caves used as dwellings, such as those in north China, see yaodong. ... Argentina consists of 23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia), and 1 federal district (Capital Federal *). Capital Federal * Buenos Aires Catamarca Chaco Chubut Córdoba Corrientes Entre Ríos Formosa Jujuy La Pampa La Rioja Mendoza Misiones Neuquén Río Negro Salta San Juan San Luis Santa Cruz Santa Fe Santiago... Map of Argentina highlighting the province Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina, located in the south of the country. ... Importance and applicability Most of human history is not described by any written records. ... A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ...

The Cave lies in the valley of the Pinturas River, in an isolated spot of the Patagonia. It is famous (and gets its name) for the paintings of hands, made by the indigenous inhabitants (possibly forefathers of the Tehuelches) between 13,000 and 9,300 years ago. The composition of the inks is mineral, so the age of the paintings was calculated from the rests of bone-made pipes used for spraying the paint on the wall blocked by the hand. Patagonia is that portion of South America which, to the east of the Andes, lies south of the Neuquén and Río Colorado rivers, and, to the west of the Andes, south of (42°S). ... or rock paintings are paintings painted on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. ... A human hand typically has four fingers and a thumb The hand (med. ... The Tehuelches is the collective name of the native tribes of Patagonia. ...

Hands, at the Cave of the Hands

The main cave measures 24 m in depth, with an entrance 15 m wide, and it is initially 10 m high. The ground inside the cave has an upward slope; inside the cave the height is reduced to no more than 2 m. ImageMetadata File history File links SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b. ... ImageMetadata File history File links SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210651b. ...

The images of hands are often negative (stencilled). Besides these there are also depictions of human beings, guanacos, rheas, felines and other animals, as well as geometric shapes, zigzag patterns, representations of the sun, and hunting scenes. Similar paintings, though in smaller numbers, can be found in nearby caves. There are also red dots on the ceilings, probably made by submerging their hunting boleadoras in ink, and then throwing them up. The colours of the paintings vary from red (made from hematite) to white, black or yellow. a political stencil by Josh McPhee A stencil is a letter, number, cartoon, typographical symbol, illustration, or any other shape or image in cut-out form (it can be cut out of paper, cardboard, metal or other material). ... Binomial name Lama guanicoe (Müller, 1776) The Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) (sometimes spelled Guanco) is an elegant, fine-boned lamoid animal that stands approximately 3 ft 6 (1. ... Species  Rhea americana  Rhea pennata Rheas, also known as ñandú (pronounced ) are large flightless birds native to South America. ... Subfamilies Felinae Pantherinae Acinonychinae Machairodontinae (extinct) All cats are members of the family Felidae. ... Gaucho Bolas Bolas (from Spanish bola, ball, also known as boleadoras) are a throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs. ... Hematite (AE) or haematite (BE) is the mineral form of Iron (III) oxide, (Fe2O3), one of several iron oxides. ...

Most of the hands are left hands, what suggests that painters held the spraying pipe with their dexterous hand. The size of the hands resembles that of a 13 year old boy, but considering they were probably smaller in size, it is speculated that they could be a few years older, and marked their advancement into manhood by stamping their hands on the walls of this sacred cave. Manhood is the period in a males life when he has left behind the innocence of childhood. ...

Scene of hunting

Cueva de las Manos has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 1999. Image File history File linksMetadata SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210063b. ... Image File history File linksMetadata SantaCruz-CuevaManos-P2210063b. ... World Heritage Site #86: Memphis and its Necropolis, including the Pyramids of Giza (Egypt). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

External links

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Cueva de las Manos in the UNESCO WHC website
• WorldHeritageSite.org
• Patagonia.com.ar (in Spanish)
• RedArgentina.com (in Spanish)
• ArteBaires.com.ar (in Spanish)