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Departing from the tourism office and guided by a baquiano, after riding 55 km from East to Northeast along an asphalted route and after 1500 mts hicking following the course of Seco River ( Dry River ), a picturesque place is present all along the way till the fender of Rupestrian Art.
With he Patagonia Steppe showing its magnitude among guanacos and nandus ( american ostriches) , you wiil be surprised by the irruption of the deep gorge of Pinturas River that hides in its fenders and caves the greatest manifestation of the regional rupestrian art. |
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Important testimony of a culture that has almost disappeared will allow you to enjoy this world of Pampean Art.
Once you have parked in the Interpretative Center and after asking about the place to the Park Ranger , you must put you out of the railing. On one side of the Ravine made up by huge walls of volcanic rocks, where the upper course of the Pinturas River winds and othe cliffs of the ravine itself, there lie the famous caves and eaves Father De Agostini decribed in 1941. A monumental impression of the cosmovision of the peoples that dwelled in this region thousands of years ago. Following a trail at almost 90 m.a.s.l. above the river and amidst that huge natural monument constituted by the Ravine, there rises another monument made by man. An ancient masterpiece is portrayed on the cave walls, shelters and eaves. It may be visited on foot and carrying a backpack after a 12-kilometer hike and follow the Pinturas River upstream, from the camping site at Estancia Casa de Piedra, to one side of Route 40. The third possibility requires that adventurers be physically fit, as they have to go up 2,200 meters up the slopes of the Pinturas River Ravine. This spot is reached through an inner trail starting at estancia Los Toldos, where an inn and a lodge are open for visitors. From this hillside, the ravine is seen as a window whose borders frame the Cave of Hands. The tour takes approximately 3 ½ hours. It starts and ends at the tourist office. |
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Highly visited by tourists, from the well known Hands Cave to Painted Stone passing by Charcamata, the Big Cave or Page Stream, this Archaeological Corridor was born by Nº 40 Route with 5,000-year-old rupestrian paintings.
This place has been proffessed as Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage Commitee. In order to make this declaration, the institution took into account the environment and the natural landscape that have remained immutable for 5,000 years. The images in the caves belong to the first inhabitants of Patagonia- Pretehuelche Civilization. The archaeological importance lays in the fact that the paintings allowed us to get very valuable information about the life style of those past hunters who were the first inhabitants in Patagonia. One of the paintings shows that they must have been part of a symbol or ritual for them and that the images were not casual. In the representations, there is a guanaco since it was the main resource for these people- they used the meat, the leather and the tendons. Tlhe entrance to the caves is only allowed with guides to prevent damage or depredation. In the past, Charcamata fender ( " Woodpecker Road" in Tehuelche) was only known by the people who lived in Perito Moreno and Bajo Caracoles Estancias and by some baquianoes. The exact location of the Big Cave, Arroyo Feo Caves ( Ugly Stream Caves) , Page Stream and Piedra Pintada Caves is secret and just some baquianos and country men know how to get there. To get to Charcamata, a wedge shaped cave excaveted at the bottom of the wall of a gorge, you must ride 30km in a four trax. You can also enjoy horse riding excursions. In the cave, there are images of two pumas, 37 guanacoes and three chouques. You can do both excursions, Sarasola Tunnel and Painted Hands Cave, in five hours. Once there, you will contemplate hundreds of painted hands and other positive and negative images in red, ochre, yellow, white and black as well as varied drawings of humans or guanacos in hunting scenes. In 1972, a group of archaeologists explored the place , studied these images and determined through Carbon 14 Analysis that they go back to 7.350 B.C. |
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See also: Hotels in Sarmiento and other accommodation venues |
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