The Alqueva dam DESTROYED this area

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The Guadiana river (Portugal-Spain borderline) is endangered. A new Coa-like international rock-art case is growing up. Within the next months a huge 80 km long "lake" will submerge the area of the Guadiana river, between Spain and Portugal. It is the Alqueva dam: once again a damned dam is menacing environment and culture.
A very important rock art area (Cheles, Badajoz de la Frontera, Spain) with hundreds of engraved rocks and thousands of figures has been yet discovered and studied by an experienced Spanish team of archaeologists. The complex seems to present Neolithic-Chalcolithic patterns, with some Paleo-Mesolithic figures. The announcement was given in the 4th Prehistoric Art course led in March 2001 by the Instituto Politecnico de Tomar (Portugal). Many figures are very similar to the Tagus valley rocks (Portugal): as these last are by some 30 years under the water of the Fratel dam, the Guadiana complex represents at this moment a unique occasion to study the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Iberian open air rock art.
All environmental conditions let us think that many other rock art areas are present, also in the Portuguese side. In fact few days ago (25.4.2001) a 10 km long area has been discovered but not yet officially announced in the Portuguese side by the environmental movement "Cota 139" (139 m is the level NGOs demand for the dam , instead of 152, reducing in one half the area to be flooded). Once again it is confirmed that in the Iberian peninsula rivers represent an archaeological area of main importance.
The problem is that the Alqueva dam is already built. So we can well understand that our heritage is considered by a restricted group of technicians a property of the present and not, as it is indeed, a gift for the future.
Archaeologists and rock art scholars can't be silent no more, and must pose some questions. First of all: which kind of archaeological surveys has been conducted before building the dam? Second: as the Coa river rock art was already known, why the Portuguese Institute of Archaeology didn't undertake a rock art related research in the area? Or better, if this survey has been conducted, why nothing was "officially" discovered? And finally: as there is in Portugal a National rock art Institute (CNART), created after and thanks to the Coa saving movement, why no official announcement has been given about a so important rock art area? Did they look for it? Once again the history of Portuguese rock art risks to be transformed into the history of a hidden underwater rock art, as the Tagus rock art teaches, good to print books, but not good enough to try to change the situation, with the unique great exception of the Coa Valley rock art saving movement. We can't no more accept this conduct and this situation.
This TRACCE special issue is an open number, a work in progress. You are all kindly invited to expose your point of view, your suggestions, your "news" into the "Guadiana river" forum, and/or to send news, papers and pictures (see rules on the right column): we hope it will contribute to obtain a significant result.

The TRACCE editor

Cow	Men and sun	Meanders
Circles	Wallpaper (516Kb)	Snake-like figure

Guadiana river	Concentric circles	Cicular modules
Cicular modules	Animal	Goat