ALT My photo shows a small, shallow, conical-shaped basket viewed from above, woven from Esparto grass. It is displayed against a dark museum background. Two different colour twines, greyish-brown and a warmer tan brown, have been woven together to create a decorative geometric pattern, giving it a two-tone appearance. Height 4.6 cm, diameter 10.8 cm. This basket belongs to a famous basketry assemblage recovered from the Cueva de los Murciélagos (Cave of bats) near Granada, southern Spain. The assemblage is the earliest known basketry in southern Europe, made by hunter-gatherers some 9,500 years ago. Part of the collections of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. However, this basket is currently on loan to the State Prehistory Museum in Halle, Germany, for the temporary 'Shaman of Bad Dürrenberg' exhibition, which is where I photographed it.
