Protected entrance to the Altamira cave, near Santillana, 
northern Spain. Long ago the thinner part of the cavern roof 
fell in, creating a sink-hole from which one could walk in under 
the roof that still held. Here, near the entrance, Solutréan 
and Magdalenian men made their homes for a time and in a 
side gallery left a most remarkably preserved collection of 
paintings, the admiration of both the artist and naturalist 
who sees them. Later the wall entrance was sealed up by 
débris and was accidentally discovered in modern times by a 
fox hunter. 
