The Arpán shelter is situated in the canyon of the same name, in an area, which includes the most comprehensive example of River Vero cave art, as Arpán has schematic and Levantine-style art, and is located very close to the Paleolithic Fuente de Trucho cave.

The itinerary starts at the A-2205 highway, in the direction of Arcusa-Aínsa, 9 km from Colungo. On the left, the information panels indicate the beginning of the route, which takes approximately 35-minutes to walk. Following the track and then the path, you will pass an oak grove, juniper trees, savin shrubs and large open spaces. Throughout the route, you will enjoy beautiful landscapes such as the end of the River Vero canyon with the Alquézar fortress, and the geological limestone formations and the canyon's own conglomerates. The information panel explains the route, the visitable shelters and the artistic styles of the River Vero cave art.

Pictorial content

It has Levantine and Schematic-style paintings, depicted in red.

The front wall has a magnificent Levantine panel, with a naturalistic depiction of a deer and the remnants of another three paintings aligned together, and another one removed from the rest, shows the remnants of an archer with a drawn bow and arrow, probably components of a hunting scene. Underneath these images are several lines of finger painted dots across the shelter.

On the left wall, with less definition, is another archer, a human figure and a scene, maybe a harvest, interpreted as human beings climbing a ladder with symbols that could correspond with flying animals.

The side walls show, in schematic-style, a four-legged animal, an archer face to face with a deer and an anthropomorph.

More information

GalLERY

  • Arpan 1
  • Arpan 2
  • Arpan 3
  • Arpan 4
  • Arpan 5
  • Arpan 6
  • Arpan 7