Engraved equines from Minho (North of Portugal): valorising rock art through the Equestrian Tourism

Abstract

The presence of equines in Northwestern Portuguese rock art reflects the tendential figurative engravings that along with weapons, vessels, or solar symbols, stands apart from the traditional abstract grammar from both Atlantic and Schematic arts. Its naturalistic or schematic nature is based on the adopted engraving technique: using several grooves (defining head and body) or a single groove (defining head, body, and tail), respectively. The geographical dispersion of these motifs is extended, roughly speaking, between the South of the Galician (Rias Baixas) and river Ave. Except for rare cases chronologically attributed, with some reserves, to the Paleolithic, these motifs are included in the Bronze and Iron Ages, that is, between the end of the 3rd and the end of the 1st millenniums BC. In the region of Minho there are, until now, 71 engraved places inventoried that include horses. Their proximity to abstract art manifestations is understood as resulting from processes of addition over time, and its relationship with segmented circles has been interpreted as a metaphor of cults to the solar horse, whose existence during the Bronze Age is attested. From the Late Bronze Age onwards and during the Iron Age, new equines would have been engraved, however, being part of dynamic narratives where horseman and weapons reflect new socio-ontological transformations. Thus, it can be assumed that during more than 2000 years equines held a great significance in terms of the ideological systems from the communities inhabiting the region, that is, the South of Galicia and the Northwest of Portugal. Remnants and reinterpretations of this imagery seem to have endured within local populations’ imaginary until the XX century. This can be assumed by the presence of toponomy, legends, beliefs, and some habits, moment when horses seem to lose their impact due to the substitution of the old fashioned and traditional lifestyles. In this sense, it is imperative safeguarding and disclosing this kind of material and immaterial cultural heritage, important to a better comprehension of Minho’s traditional landscape and populations. If not all the rock art including equines is liable for tourism valorization, there are cases where that is possible, and desirable: (1) whenever accompanied with tangible discourses destined to the public in general, and (2) being part of wider networks linked to places where horses are still active in the popular imagery, to spaces where the Garrano still grows and lives in herds, and to places where the Equestrian Tourism is active. Thus, this work focusses the tourism valorization of the places from Minho with engraved equines in interrelation with Equestrian Tourism, considering that its target audience is sensible to this thematic, whether seeking for horse observation or equitation. The combination of these two local resources allows to dynamize and to create distinguish tourism offer, in some cases, accessible even to public with any constrains.