Altamira Cave

E313083

archaeological site prehistoric cave tourist attraction

Altamira Cave is a prehistoric cave in northern Spain renowned for its remarkably well-preserved Paleolithic rock art, especially vivid polychrome paintings of bison.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
Altamira	2
Altamira Cave canonical	2
Museo Nacional de Altamira	1
Neocueva de Altamira	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2947115 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Altamira Cave
Context triple: [Northern Spain, hasUNESCOSite, Altamira Cave]

A. Altamira
Altamira is an industrial and port city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, known for its petrochemical complexes and strategic location on the Gulf of Mexico.
B. Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave
Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave is a prehistoric cave in southern France renowned for its exceptionally well-preserved Paleolithic wall paintings, some of the oldest known in the world.
C. Grotte de Pech Merle
Grotte de Pech Merle is a famous prehistoric cave in southern France renowned for its well-preserved Paleolithic wall paintings and engravings.
D. Grotte de Niaux
Grotte de Niaux is a famous prehistoric cave in southwestern France renowned for its well-preserved Paleolithic cave paintings.
E. Grotte de Mas d’Azil
Grotte de Mas d’Azil is a large prehistoric cave in southwestern France renowned for its Paleolithic and Azilian archaeological remains and dramatic natural tunnel traversed by a road and river.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Altamira Cave
Target entity description: Altamira Cave is a prehistoric cave in northern Spain renowned for its remarkably well-preserved Paleolithic rock art, especially vivid polychrome paintings of bison.

A. Altamira
Altamira is an industrial and port city in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, known for its petrochemical complexes and strategic location on the Gulf of Mexico.
B. Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave
Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc Cave is a prehistoric cave in southern France renowned for its exceptionally well-preserved Paleolithic wall paintings, some of the oldest known in the world.
C. Grotte de Pech Merle
Grotte de Pech Merle is a famous prehistoric cave in southern France renowned for its well-preserved Paleolithic wall paintings and engravings.
D. Grotte de Niaux
Grotte de Niaux is a famous prehistoric cave in southwestern France renowned for its well-preserved Paleolithic cave paintings.
E. Grotte de Mas d’Azil
Grotte de Mas d’Azil is a large prehistoric cave in southwestern France renowned for its Paleolithic and Azilian archaeological remains and dramatic natural tunnel traversed by a road and river.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	archaeological site ⓘ prehistoric cave ⓘ tourist attraction ⓘ
approximateDating	circa 36,000–13,000 BCE ⓘ
approximateNumberOfFigures	over 150 ⓘ
artPeriod	Magdalenian ⓘ surface form: Magdalenian culture Upper Palaeolithic ⓘ surface form: Upper Paleolithic
contains	Great Ceiling of polychrome bison ⓘ
country	Spain ⓘ
culturalAttribution	Cro-Magnon people ⓘ
discoveredBy	Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola ⓘ
discoveryYear	1868 ⓘ
firstScientificRecognitionYear	1879 ⓘ
hasArtworkType	charcoal drawings ⓘ engravings ⓘ polychrome paintings ⓘ
hasDesignation	National Monument (Spain) ⓘ surface form: National Monument of Spain
hasMotif	abstract signs ⓘ deer ⓘ handprints ⓘ horses ⓘ wild boar ⓘ
hasReplica	Altamira Cave self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Neocueva de Altamira
initialScholarlyReaction	authenticity disputed in late 19th century ⓘ
knownFor	Paleolithic cave art ⓘ Upper Paleolithic paintings ⓘ polychrome paintings of bison ⓘ well-preserved rock art ⓘ
laterScholarlyConsensus	paintings accepted as genuine Paleolithic art ⓘ
locatedIn	Cantabria ⓘ
locatedInRegion	northern Spain ⓘ
locatedNear	Santillana del Mar ⓘ
mainMotif	bison ⓘ
managedBy	Spanish Ministry of Culture ⓘ
paintingTechnique	use of mineral pigments ⓘ use of natural rock relief ⓘ
pigmentType	black manganese oxide ⓘ red ochre ⓘ
reasonForRestrictedAccess	conservation of paintings ⓘ
roofPaintingsName	Great Ceiling ⓘ
significance	evidence of early symbolic behavior in Homo sapiens ⓘ key site for study of Paleolithic art ⓘ
UNESCOExtensionYear	2008 ⓘ
UNESCOInscriptionYear	1985 ⓘ
UNESCOWorldHeritageStatus	part of Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain ⓘ
visitorAccess	highly restricted ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

northern Spain → hasUNESCOSite → Altamira Cave ⓘ

subject surface form: Northern Spain

Spanish national museum system → includesInstitution → Altamira Cave ⓘ

this entity surface form: Museo Nacional de Altamira

Hugh Hudson → directed → Altamira Cave ⓘ

this entity surface form: Altamira

Cantabria → contains → Altamira Cave ⓘ

Altamira Cave → hasReplica → Altamira Cave self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Neocueva de Altamira

Magdalenian → hasSite → Altamira Cave ⓘ