Peña del Escrito

Three sandstone cavities

Peña del Escrito lies around 7 km north-west of Villar del Humo, beside a seasonal channel descending to the River Mesto. It contains 170 figures in three sandstone cavities.

At Peña del Escrito I, all the figures occupy a single panel beneath a strongly projecting overhang. To the left are almost complete Levantine-style animals: goat, deer, bull, doe and wild boar. A doe with an arrow embedded in its back stands out, with the others arranged around it. In the centre are another group of animals and a red cat painted in modern times; the rest are small schematic figures.

Peña del Escrito II, around 20 metres to the right and 10 lower down, is the most complex group, with 138 figures. It has two parts distinguished by the colour of the rock and paint: to the left, Levantine scenes in browns and light reds; to the right, schematic figures in orange.

Several millennia

The shelter was a symbolic place for millennia, from the Epipalaeolithic until close to the Iron Age, when the schematic figures were painted. It forms part of the Villar del Humo group, a World Heritage Site.

Plan your visit

Before you travel

The paint is fragile: do not touch or wet it.

Combine with

Marmalo and Selva Pascuala, the group’s other rock shelters.