Minister of State Lord Ahmad looks forward to the UK hosting the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief in London in July 2022.
The conference will bring together government, civil society, faith and belief groups to agree on actions to:
prevent Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) violations and abuses
protect and promote freedom of religion or belief internationally
The conference programme will be wide-ranging and inclusive, involving a diverse set of participants and speakers with the overarching aim of promoting respect for FoRB around the world.
Statement from Lord Ahmad
I’m sincerely looking forward to welcoming our partners and friends from around the world to London in early July for the United Kingdom-hosted Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
This will be the first international ministerial conference on this theme since 2020 and the first to take place in person since 2019.
Together with our international partners we share a collective commitment to freedom of religion or belief for everyone, everywhere.
This is an issue that we all should care about. Although the right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is regrettable, indeed tragic, that too many people around the world continue to live in fear of persecution on the basis of what they choose to believe or not to believe, or indeed how they choose to practice those beliefs.
Being denied the fundamental human right of freedom of religion or belief can be devastating for individuals and communities.
At the conference we’ll therefore hear from survivors directly on the impact that persecution has had upon them, on their lives, on their communities.
As individuals suffer from being denied this human right, societies, countries where survivors live suffer too. They become smaller, diminished culturally and spiritually by this lack of freedom. Therefore, let us strengthen all of our communities by driving forward the collective importance of not just promoting this important issue, but strengthening freedom of religion or belief for all.
This conference in London will bring together ministers, but also importantly other representatives from government, from faith and belief group leaders, and indeed importantly from civil society as well.
Alongside the official ministerial conference, an associated conference fringe will see a series of events organized directly by civil society.
These will be taking place around the United Kingdom and provide further opportunities for all to join this important debate and discussion and learn from each other about this important issue.
I therefore hope that you will take this opportunity to really get involved and share our collective commitment to promoting and protecting, and indeed strengthening freedom of religion or belief for everyone across the world.
Following the launch of the 2nd Catholic Youth Convention on the Future of Europe, COMECE and KAS invite you to join the second part of this initiative, which will take place on Wednesday 15 June 2022, with the extraordinary participation of EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi. Registration is now open | Programme
Screenshot taken during the first session of the 2nd Catholic Youth Convention. (Credit: COMECE)
Young people from across Europe are strongly encouraged to register and participate in the second session of this year’s Catholic Youth Convention focused on “Youth and South-East Europe”.
Organised by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the EU office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the event will take place online (Zoom) on Wednesday 15 June 2022 from 13:45 to 15:00 (CEST) on the theme “Sharing our dreams on the future of Europe”. The programme is available here.
This session will include a dialogue meeting with Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement. Young people will have the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and proposals on how to foster reconciliation in South-East Europe, as well as to identify and boost the role of young people in shaping a positive narrative on the region and stimulating social and political empowerment.
During the first session of the Convention, held on 2 June 2022, young Catholics discussed with Representatives of the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The video of the first session is available on the COMECE YouTube channel.
Fr. Manuel Barrios Prieto, General Secretary of COMECE, was interviewed by Vatican News. He explains the aim and background of the Catholic Youth Convention. This interview is available in Spanish and in Italian.
Participation in the Convention is open to all people who are interested to hear the voice of the youth regarding the Future of Europe.
environmental policy - group of women standing on green grass field during daytime
In Sweden, a non-profit provides young people the tools and platform to weigh in on environmental policy.
Anders Varger, a Swedish high school teacher and entrepreneur, was noticing a trend. He felt that young people are rarely invited to conversations about how to build a sustainable world – even though policy decisions made today will impact their future.
To tackle this problem, Varger founded the non-profit Framtidens röster, which translates to ‘Voices of the Future’. His aim was to create a platform for students and young people to engage with politicians and other decision-makers on environmental issues. The organization’s Expert Panel consists of about thirty of Sweden’s premier managers and researchers on sustainability, who have made themselves available to coach young people.
Voices of the Future is also equipping classrooms across Sweden with tools to educate pupils about environmental issues and articulate their vision for a sustainable future.
One method is ‘positive cartography,’ where students choose environmental topics to research and build maps of what a positive future could look like. The map consists of images that students download from the internet or draw and paint themselves. The class then puts these together into a common map, where they identify what obstacles exist on the way to the goal of sustainability and can discuss how to address them with members of the Expert Panel.
“We involve young people in issues impacting the future. Our goal is for the children to meet those in power who influence the issue they have chosen. There are no pats on the head, but real dialogues that inspire. Then the students publish their material on our website and regularly follow up on what is happening. The format has been very much appreciated,” says Varger, the founder and Chairman of Voices of the Future.
Voices of the Future started working with schools in lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021. They have since grown to collaborate with 500 students across Sweden. In spring 2022, the organization toured the country, stopping in ten locations.
Anna Wik, a schoolteacher at Platengymnasiet in Motala, sees Voices of the Future as a means for students to be involved in social change.
“Issues related to sustainable development impact all parts of society, and for students to feel included in these conversations gives them motivation,” she said.
At Platengymnasiet, students have focused on environmental policy, social inclusion and gender equality. They have consulted with the Expert Panel on several occasions and had the opportunity to dialogue with municipal officials and local entrepreneurs.
Students who have participated in Voices of the Future will present their vision and findings with Members of Parliament, United Nations officials and other delegates at the Stockholm+50 international meeting in June 2022.
They will also participate in World Environment Day 2022 in Stockholm. Tune in to the live feed here: World Environment Day Live.
Global wellbeing is at risk – and it’s in large part because we haven’t kept our promises on the environment – UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.
Although there have been successes in protecting the planet since 1972, including rescuing the ozone layer, Mr. Guterres warned that “Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands”.
“Lead us out of this mess”, he urged delegates at the Swedish summit convened by the UN General Assembly, in a call for action against a “triple planetary crisis” that’s been caused by the climate emergency – “that is killing and displacing ever more people each year” – biodiversity loss – which threatens “more than three billion people” – and pollution and waste, “that is costing some nine million lives a year”.
All nations should do more to protect the basic human right to a clean, healthy environment for everyone, Mr. Guterres insisted, focusing in particular on “poor communities, women and girls, indigenous peoples and the generations to come”.
GDP alert
Part of the solution lies in dispensing with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a gauge of countries’ economic clout, the Secretary-General continued, describing it as an accounting system “that reward(s) pollution and waste”.
He added: “Let us not forget that when we destroy a forest, we are creating GDP. When we overfish, we are creating GDP. GDP is not a way to measure richness in the present situation in the world.”
After calling on all nations to commit further to implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and following the 2015 Paris Agreement to tackle these threats, the Secretary-General also insisted that greater efforts were needed to bring emissions to net zero by 2050.
Hot air
“Hot air is killing us,” he said, repeating his call to all countries to abandon fossil fuel subsidies and invest in renewable energy, while developed nations should “at least double” their support to poorer countries so that they can adapt to a growing number of climate shocks.
Stressing that nations have already cooperated to protect the planet on many fronts, Mr. Guterres noted that the final touches are expected to be added to a new global biodiversity framework to reverse nature loss by 2030.
Work is also ongoing to establish a treaty to tackle plastics pollution, the UN chief continued, and the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, is expected to galvanize efforts to save our seas.
“If we do these things we can avert climate catastrophe, end a growing humanitarian and inequality crisis and promote inclusive and sustainable development,” he said, adding that “every government, business and individual has a role to play”.
Progress impossible if planet’s ‘under relentless assault’
Conference convenor, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, said there was a simple truth all need to acknowledge: “human progress cannot occur on an earth that is starved of its own resources, marred by pollution, and is under relentless assault from a climate crisis of its own making.
He said recent climate action initiatives such as a plastics pollution treaty push, “give me hope”, but they needed to be integrated into a much broader effort.
“We need solutions that address the common bottlenecks affecting the entire environment agenda, which will in turn accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and promote resilient and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.”
Tech-tonic push for sustainability
In a related development at Stockholm on Thursday, a UN-backed coalition of 1,000 stakeholders from more than 100 countries, launched their bid to use digital tools to accelerate environmentally and socially sustainable development.
The Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) offers ways to embed sustainability in all aspects of digitalization. This includes building globally inclusive processes to define standards and governance frameworks for digital sustainability, allocating resources and infrastructure, while also identifying opportunities to reduce potential harms or risks from digitalization, said the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Amin Awad was appointed the UN Crisis Coordinator in Ukraine by Secretary-General António Guterres in February, following the Russian attack on the country. Marking 100 days since the 24 February Russian invasion of Ukraine, UN News spoke exclusively and in-depth to Mr. Awad, who explained what the UN is doing to try to end the conflict, and provide support and protection to millions of Ukrainian civilians caught in the crossfire, especially in light of the bitterly cold winter, which lies just a few months ahead.
UN News: The Russian war in Ukraine has reached a tragic milestone. Are there any hopes that this war will end anytime soon?
Amin Awad: “There is optimism that the war will end, because neither Ukraine nor Russia can afford it. Ukraine is suffering from the loss of life, the destruction of hospitals, schools, homes, railway stations and tracks, and the transport sector. And the sanctions on Russia are severe.
It is also destructive for the world. Ukraine supports about 15 to 20 per cent of the world’s food needs. This food is trapped, and we have another harvest season coming up: we have an impeding disruption of food pipelines and supply chains.
We’re also seeing inflationary problems and countries defaulting on their debt: Sri Lanka, for example, is unable to pay its loans. The world is not in a good place.
UNOCHA/Ivane Bochorishvili – Aid workers prepare to deliver the much-needed assistance from the UN and humanitarian partners in Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine.
UN News: Civilians are paying the highest price for this invasion. Many were killed, while millions have sought refuge in neighboring countries. What is the situation like for those who are still in the country?
Amin Awad: There is a sense of despair. There are almost eight million people displaced internally, and another six million abroad. Around 15 million did not leave their homes, but they’re impacted by the loss of their livelihoods, and have lost access to services like education, health, and other amenities. Millions of children are not going to school.
The social security system is strained. Government services are stretched. So is the humanitarian community. It’s a really bad situation.
UN News: The UN and Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the evacuation of desperate civilians trapped in the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Are there any similar operations the UN is involved in right now, to evacuate those who are trapped in the hostile zones?
Amin Awad: We haven’t received requests for evacuations, such as the one in Mariupol, but we have been putting requests forward for access to areas where populations are in need of food, medical supplies, and other kind of support.
Moreover, I think now we have to really concentrate on winter: we are already in June, and winter is around the corner and, in this part of the world, temperatures are sub-zero. With the destruction of many of the power energy plants, and the loss of alternative energy supplies, we need to quickly come up with a strategy to support millions of people during this winter.
UN News: You have been in Ukraine for a while now, and you’ve seen the ugly face of this war. Can you tell us a human story that touched you deeply?
Amin Awad: There’s a lot of suffering. Driving through some of these areas of destruction, I see children who have escaped the destruction of their homes or apartment building, and find themselves alone on the road, with no parents, no guardians, and nowhere to go.
I think this is one of the ugly faces of war that we have to stop.
UN News: Regarding the safety of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, is the UN working with parties to address any possible threats?
Amin Awad: The International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) has been here many times. They went to all the plants.
There’s a lot of suffering. Driving through some of these areas of destruction, I see children who have escaped the destruction of their homes or apartment building, and find themselves alone on the road, with no parents, no guardians, and nowhere to go.
Zaporizhzhya is under Russian control, and I believe that there’s a negotiation underway to provide access to the agency.
Nuclear plants could pose a danger, not only to Ukraine, but to the whole continent. So, they need the utmost attention, and security procedures andhprotocol have to be followed.
UN News: There were many attacks on schools across Ukraine. You’ve been calling on warring parties to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure and you stressed that these obligations under international humanitarian law are non-negotiable. Are there any signs that Russia is listening to these calls?
Amin Awad:We continue to call on Russia to really spare what we call civilian infrastructure, which is sources of water, electricity, schools and hospitals.
We will continue to make these calls, because the number of people who fled because of these attacks is huge and unacceptable.
Russian President Putin has fired five generals and a colonel from the Interior Ministry
Russian President Vladimir Putin fired five generals and a police colonel on Monday (May 30th). This became known today from an excerpt from the decree, a copy of which is available to RBC. Its authenticity was confirmed by a source close to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Lenta.ru writes.
The head of state dismissed Major General Vasily Kukushkin, Head of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Vladimir Region, Major General Alexander Laas, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Altai Krai, Major General Andrei Lipilin. Head of the Department of the Ministry of Interior of the Yaroslavl Region and Major General Alexander Udovenko, Head of the Operational Department of the Ministry of Interior and Deputy Head of the Department of Logistics and Medical Insurance of the Ministry of Interior, Major General Yuri Instrankin. In addition, the president fired Police Colonel Emil Musin from the post of First Deputy Chief of the Judicial Expert Center of the Ministry of Interior.
The interlocutor of RBC explained the dismissal of the generals and the colonel by the police with the standard rotation of the employees in the department, Lenta.ru writes.
It is noted that Putin also appointed police colonel Alexei Shkolkin, who until now was head of the department of the Interior Ministry in Odintsovo, to the post of chief of the Interior Ministry for the Yaroslavl region.
Earlier, it became known that Russian President Vladimir Putin fired the Deputy Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN), Lieutenant General Valery Balan. He has held this position since April 1, 2019.
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance are the five stages of accepting the inevitable. And four-year-old Prince Louis walked them all, standing next to Elizabeth II during the Trooping the Color parade.
The United Kingdom is celebrating Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee with might and main, and thousands of enthusiastic Britons have gathered on the streets of London to at least from afar see the Trooping the Color parade, timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign. Share the joy of this amazing holiday in other cities of the UK and the Commonwealth. However, a celebration of this magnitude is not easy for everyone.
On the balcony of Buckingham Palace this year, only current members of the royal family appeared, acting on behalf of the crown. This is Her Majesty, Prince Charles with Duchess Camilla, Prince Edward with Countess Sophie and their children, Princess Anne with her husband Timothy Lawrence, Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra and, of course, Cambridge in full force.
Duchess Catherine chose a striking white outfit and jewelry that belonged to Princess Diana, drawing many compliments in her address (read also: Meghan’s prick and “wedding” outfit: Kate Middleton stepped out with the Queen and hinted at her future role). The Cambridge smiled a lot and clearly enjoyed being at the royal celebration, which cannot be said about all her children. Apparently, the youngest Prince Louis liked the least at the celebration.
How much the 4-year-old prince was annoyed by the noise can be seen from the pictures taken during the parade. The photos taken by the reporters speak for themselves. Not surprisingly, the eloquent pictures immediately became a meme with captions like “denial, anger, bargaining, depression” or “these photos made our day.”
Many people remember another meme that was born due to the appearance of a little girl on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Grace van Cutsem was the flower girl at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011. While the newlyweds were kissing in front of an admiring audience, the displeased girl stood, covering her ears with her hands. Grace is so remembered by royal fans that they continue to follow her fate (read also: 10 years later: what the “suffering” bridesmaid from the wedding of Kate and William looks like today).
The look on the face of the Cambridges’ youngest child at his august great-grandmother’s official birthday celebration is also in danger of becoming a source of never-ending suspense, even among those not interested in royal news. Prince Louis is chatting animatedly with the 96-year-old queen standing nearby, then waving to the crowd, then grimacing, screaming and trying to plug his ears. In general, “our whole life in a few pictures,” as several commentators on the Web concluded.
Duchess Catherine repeatedly reminded her youngest son to remove his hands from his face, and sometimes he obeyed. Someone noticed how the duchess praised him, saying: “Good boy.”
The 300th anniversary of the birth of Paisii Hilendarski was included in the List of significant anniversaries of UNESCO for the period 2022-2023. This happened at the suggestion of the National Commission of Bulgaria for UNESCO, whose activities are coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. .
The list was approved by the 41st session of the General Conference of UNESCO in November 2021.
The anniversary of the birth of Paisii Hilendarski will be celebrated in 2022 with national and international events.
In 2021, UNESCO joined the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the death of the Patriarch of Bulgarian Literature Ivan Vazov and the 650th anniversary of the establishment of the Tarnovo Literary School.
2022 marks the 60th anniversary of the act by which the Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonizes hieromonk Paisii Hilendarski as a saint, but also 300 years since his birth and 260 years since the writing of “Slavo-Bulgarian History”, which marked the beginning of the Bulgarian Revival and the process of forming our national self-consciousness as Bulgarians and a nation.
The Orthodox Church celebrates St. Paisii Hilendarski, the Bulgarian national awakener, clergyman and saint, author of “Slavo-Bulgarian History”. His ideas for national revival and liberation of the Bulgarian people lead many scholars to point to him as the founder of the Bulgarian Revival.
St. Paisii Hilendarski was canonized a saint by a written act of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church during the time of Patriarch Kiril on July 26, 1962, when St. The Synod proclaims Rev. Paisii Hilendarski a saint of our independent national Orthodox Church on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the writing of Slavo-Bulgarian History, and his memory is celebrated annually on June 19. During the decades of the state atheistic regime, only two Bulgarian saints were duly canonized by the BOC. St. Sophronius of Vratsa (also known by his secular name priest Stoyko Vladislavov, later Bishop of Vratsa, canonized a saint on December 31, 1964) was the second canonized Bulgarian national awakener, clergyman and first follower of the work of St. Paisii Hilendarski.
We pay homage to St. Paisii Hilendarski every year on the Sunday of All Bulgarian Saints – the newest, moving holiday in our Orthodox church calendar. In 1954 St. The Synod of the BOC decrees that the second Sunday after Pentecost be declared All Saints’ Day. Patriarch Kiril celebrated the first liturgy for the holiday in the capital’s Holy Septuagint Church. This is one of the first major initiatives of the Bulgarian Patriarchate, which restored its patriarchal dignity only a year earlier – on May 10, 1953. Since then, the Day of All Bulgarian Saints has a permanent place in the Bulgarian church calendar. On it the Church pays homage to all historical figures who have lived in our lands, who are canonized as saints. They were distinguished by a pious life, fully professed the faith of Christ and were devoted to holy Orthodoxy. On this day we also commemorate the countless martyrs, unknown ascetics, monks and holy people who shed their blood to preserve the faith.
The next annual report of the US State Department says that the anti-Semitic rhetoric in our country continues, Nazi symbols are freely sold, and religious door-to-door agitation is banned in some places.
The Annual Report to the United States Congress on Religious Freedom in the World – the International Report on Religious Freedom – has been published on the website of the US State Department. This annual report is presented in accordance with the International Law on Religious Freedom of 1998, BTA notes.
Among the findings for Bulgaria are complaints from the Muslim and Jewish communities in Bulgaria.
The document describes the status of religious freedom in each country and covers government policies that violate the religious beliefs and practices of groups, religious denominations and individuals, as well as US policies to promote religious freedom around the world.
The report provides a detailed and factual report on the state of religious freedom in 200 countries and territories and documents data on violations and abuses committed by governments, non-governmental organizations and individuals.
The introduction to the latest report quoted US President Joe Biden as saying: “We need to be vigilant against the rising tide of targeted violence and hatred at home and abroad and work to ensure that no one is afraid to attend religious services. school or community center, or walk the streets carrying the symbols of their faith. “
What the report says about Bulgaria
The section on religious freedom in Bulgaria in 2021 states that Muslim leaders have again said that several Bulgarian municipalities have refused permission to build new or renovate existing religious sites.
In addition, according to NGOs, souvenirs with Nazi insignia and images continue to be widely available in tourist areas across the country, and local authorities in few of these places have responded to the complaints. The report says anti-Semitic rhetoric has continued to appear regularly in online commentaries and social media sites, as well as in articles on electronic and traditional media. Anti-Semitic graffiti, including swastikas and insults, has appeared in public. The Jewish NGO Shalom has reported an increase in anti-Semitic hate speech online in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing election campaigns, as well as vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and monuments.
The report notes that Bulgarian law allows registered religious groups to publish, import and distribute religious literature, but does not address the rights of unregistered groups with respect to such material. The law does not restrict the attraction of new supporters and members of registered or unregistered groups. Dozens of municipalities, including the regional towns of Kyustendil, Pleven, Shumen and Sliven, have ordinances banning door-to-door agitation and the distribution of religious literature without permission, the report said.
In September 2021, a publication on the online human rights platform Marginalia reported that the national census violated children’s rights in favor of religious groups, ignoring the legal right of children aged 14-18 to independent religious self-identification. According to the publication, the census instructions allowed adults to increase the number of members of a religious group to include their children, which directly affected the amount of state subsidies for the group until the next census.
The chief mufti and regional Muslim leaders have reiterated that several municipalities, including Sofia, Stara Zagora and Gotse Delchev, continue to reject, according to them, for non-transparent reasons, their demands to build new or renovate existing religious sites. Chief Mufti Mustafa Hadji said he had raised the issue in several meetings with Sofia’s mayor.
The Chief Mufti’s Office has said it continues to seek ways to legally recognize it as the successor to all pre-1949 Muslim religious communities in order to return approximately 30 properties, including eight mosques, two schools, two baths and a cemetery seized from the former communist power.
Schools began using the full range of textbooks on Orthodox Christianity and Islam from first to twelfth grade in the final school year, the report said. There were approved religious textbooks from first to third grade, but there were no trained teachers to use them. The Evangelical Alliance, a group of 14 Protestant churches and 16 Protestant NGOs, complained that the Ministry of Education was postponing teacher training until 2022 and providing funding for only 40 percent of applicants, the report said.
The Chief Mufti and the United Evangelical Churches Association have expressed concern that they lack the resources to meet the legal requirement to bring their religious educational institutions in line with university standards by the end of the year and will be forced to close them, the report said. Representatives of the Evangelical Alliance reiterated that Protestants did not receive a fair share of government funding, probably because they were not represented by one organization, even though their numbers exceed 1% of the population.
In June, Shalom reported stickers with Nazi symbols in Sofia’s public transport vehicles and ski lifts in Bansko, as well as frequent cases of anti-Semitic hate speech online in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing election campaigns. .
Leaders of the Jewish community have expressed concern about the periodic vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and monuments and a growing trend of anti-Semitic and xenophobic propaganda and graffiti. In June, Shalom contacted local authorities in Provadia after discovering that an old local Jewish cemetery had been turned into an illegal dump and had bones scattered around the site.
The chief mufti said Muslims had been the subject of periodic hate speech, such as a November protest in front of the Turkish embassy in Sofia against Turkey’s alleged interference in the parliamentary elections, where participants chanted “Death of the Turks”. The mufti’s office also cited several cases of offensive graffiti on Muslim property, such as a swastika on a mosque in Plovdiv in January and obscene spray-painting on a mosque in Kazanlak.
In the cave, scientists also examined the layers of sediments and collected fragments of pottery, samples of animal and human remains, fabrics, tools, and more.
A new study by scientists suggests that the Cueva de Ardales cave in southern Spain has been regularly visited by prehistoric people for at least 50,000 years.
The first visitors to the cave were Neanderthals around 65,000 years ago. After that, modern people used the cave at different time periods to create works of art and perform ceremonial tasks.
In 1821, thanks to an earthquake, scientists were able to gain access to a forgotten cave near the city of Ardales in the province of Malaga. Cueva de Ardales is adorned with a variety of ancient cave paintings, but the cave has been surprisingly little explored since it was rediscovered two hundred years ago.
The first visitors to the cave were Neanderthals around 65,000 years ago.
In order to better understand when the cave was used and why, a group of researchers from Spain and Germany carried out excavations at the entrance to the cave. They took samples from the first 20 meters of the cave entrance, where a 19th-century staircase leads down into the interior of the cave. In the area, scientists have explored sediment layers and collected fragments of pottery, samples of animal and human remains, textiles, tools, and more.
To determine how old these items are, the research team used different methods. Just looking at what layer of sediment something is in already gives an idea of how long it has been there. But experts have also used radiocarbon dating to better understand the age of organic materials found, such as charcoal remains, bones or tissue.
They found many samples of ocher, consistent with works of art created at the site during the Paleolithic era. The location and position of the human remains also indicated that the cave may have been used as a burial site during the Holocene. There was little evidence that these caves were inhabited, so it seems more likely that the site was used only occasionally, such as for burials or for the creation of works of art.
In order to better understand when the cave was used and why, a group of researchers from Spain and Germany carried out excavations at the entrance to the cave.
However, not everything the research team found was prehistoric. One of the interesting items they found was a piece of rope that had completely calcified over time. Based on radiocarbon dating and other specimens from this part of the entrance, this rope appears to have been used in the 16th or 17th century.
Thus, even though the entrance to the cave was hidden until 1821, there must have been another way inside, and at least some people knew how to get there. It is worth noting that only the entrance to the cave was studied in this study, and the cave paintings in this part of the cave are very different from those found in the rest of the cave.
Recall that earlier archaeologists discovered another cave, but the find was made in Iceland. Scientists believe that the cave could have been used to keep livestock, but what it was used for before is not yet clear.
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