<Tr> <Th> Coordinates </Th> <Td> 43 ° 22 ′ 57" N 4 ° 7 ′ 13" W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.38250 ° N 4.12028 ° W ﻿ / 43.38250; - 4.12028 Coordinates: 43 ° 22 ′ 57" N 4 ° 7 ′ 13" W ﻿ / ﻿ 43.38250 ° N 4.12028 ° W ﻿ / 43.38250; - 4.12028 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Location in Cantabria, Spain Cave of Altamira (Spain) Show map of Cantabria Show map of Spain Show all </Td> </Tr> <P> The Cave of Altamira (Spanish: Cueva de Altamira; pronounced (ˈku̯e. βa ðe al. ta. ˈmi. ɾa)) located near the historic town Santillana del Mar in Cantabria, Spain, is renowned for its numerous parietal cave paintings featuring charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings of contemporary local fauna and human hands, created during the Upper Paleolithic . The earliest paintings in the cave were executed around 15,500 years ago . </P> <P> Altamira was the first European cave for which prehistoric origin of the paintings was suggested and promoted by Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola . He published his research with the support of Juan Vilanova y Piera in 1880 to public acclaim . Nonetheless a bitter public controversy among experts ensued and continued until 1902, as reports of similar findings of prehistoric paintings in the region had accumulated and evidence could no longer be rejected . </P>

How were the altamira paintings achieved when where