60,000-year-old Neanderthal camp discovered in Barcelona

60,000-year-old Neanderthal camp discovered in Spain’s Barcelona. 

A team of archaeologists have discovered the existence of a Neanderthal camp of deer hunters that existed 60,000 years ago. The excavations have been carried out at Abric Romani (Capellades, Barcelona) according to the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES).

It is now believed that around 60,000 years ago in the Capellades area, a group Neanderthals were foraging for food and performing other daily activities. The excavation campaign was performed over the summer by a group 20 archaeologists directed by the IPHES-CERCA and the Prehistory Department of the Rovira i Virgili University (URV). The team have discovered the remains of at least three deer.

M. Gema Chacon, the co-director of the excavation, IPHES-CERCA researcher and associate professor at the URV commented that: “At the Ra level we have observed a great diversity of carving methods used by Neanderthal groups”.

“In addition, there are a large number of retouched pieces, which are exclusively denticulate, stone tools with edges similar to modern saw knives. These multi-purpose tools are related to the wide diversity of tasks that were carried out during the occupation of this level.”

Josep Vallverdu is the director of the project and also a researcher at IPHES-CERCA and associate professor at the URV, he explained how 15 different households had been discovered.

“This is very common in the Abric Romani record and provides important information about the space occupied at this site by Neanderthal communities and their distribution,” said Vallverdu.

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