Upper Palaeolithic graffiti in Portugal [audio 15min]

Over a series of five programmes, archaeologist Dr George Nash of Bristol University visits five rock art sites in England, Wales, Ireland, Portugal and Italy, to attempt to unravel the real, hidden meaning of rock art. Who creates rock art, and why? Can our present day graffiti artists provide some clues? In Programme Two,"Graffiti Gorge", George Nash meets Dr Mila Simoes de Abreu, whose bitterly-fought campaign saved thousands of prehistoric tribal rock carvings from being lost under the waters of a proposed reservoir in the Coa Valley, Portugal. Here they see warriors on horseback, and what appear to be a mammoth and even a giraffe, all drawn on very inaccessible rock faces, well away from Palaeolithic public gaze. The process appears to be much more important than the product, and artists returned again and again to the same special place, all of which has a very familiar ring for Manchester graffiti artist Kelso.