New Upper Palaeolithic rock art complex in the Tejo Valley, Central Portugal

Abstract The Ocreza Valley (Lower Tejo River), central Portugal provides evidence for a new Upper Palaeolithic rock art complex in western Iberia. Recently discovered panels, comprising several engraved zoomorphic figures that includes an auroch (Panel OCR20), another with a horse figure (Panel OCR22) and a bolder with another engraved auroch figure (Panel OCR21). These discoveries substantially increase the previous number of engravings that included a headless horse found in 2000 (Panel OCR15). The style of the engravings is identical to Upper Palaeolithic open-air engravings from other areas of western Iberia, including, Côa, Sabor, Tua, Siega Verde, La Salud, Zêzere valleys and Vale Boi of northern, central and southern Portugal. These new discoveries indicate the existence of concentrated assemblages of Upper Palaeolithic rock art in the Tejo Valley, overlapping the territory of an already known Holocene-dated Tejo Rock Art Complex (Garcês 2017). Similarities in setting, production, and style with other Western Iberian sites imply potential long-range contact and exchange networks involving the new ideas in artistic endeavour that are coherent with population clustering in central-western Iberia during the LGM.