Linea Directa 200 LEFT COL CAR INSURANCE

PROPERTY SEARCH

DomusVi Ciudad de Murcia residential cross content 1200

Date Published: 25/04/2022

ARCHIVED - Archaeologists in Murcia find hundreds of prehistoric human remains in a cave

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The collective burial site has been located in a cave in the Sierra de Malnombre, Santomera

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Archaeologists in Murcia find hundreds of prehistoric human remains in a cave

Archaeologists from the Historical Heritage Association of Santomera have discovered hundreds of prehistoric human remains at a collective burial site in a cave in the Sierra de Malnombre.

Excavation work at what is known as the cave of Las Muelas and Sima Guillamón began last week and archaeologists now have the laborious and exhausting task of determining exactly how many corpses the skeletal remains belong to.

According to the President of the Santomera Heritage Association, professor and archaeologist Miguel Pallarés, the remains could be at least 5,000-years-old and belong to the first Stone-Brone period settlers. And interestingly, they could be associated with some sort of ritual process.

The excavation is part of a larger project being carried out by the association in partnership with Santomera Town Council wihch is based on the study, research, dissemination, enhancement and protection of the archaeological and ethnographic heritage of the municipality.

The archaeologists initially selected two caves/sites and carried out preliminary surveys to determine whether there was "real archaeological potential".

Having established that there is, a team of up to 10 researchers will spend a further two weeks at the collective burial site which "has greater importance" than the other eight or nine sepulchral caves previously documented by the Association's archaeologists in the area.

𝙉𝙪𝙚𝙫𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙯𝙜𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙤𝙡𝙤́𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙤 𝙚𝙣 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖

👉Se han descubierto numerosos restos humanos prehistóricos de al menos 5.000 años de antigüedad, que demuestran que la Cueva de las Muelas y Sima Guillamón era una antigua cueva sepulcral.

🧵Hilo🔽 pic.twitter.com/juNblwMVAM
— Somos Cultura Somos Región (@RegionCultura) April 24, 2022

"In all of them, anatomical parts of bodies were deposited, but while in the previously discovered caves secondary and partial depositions of human remains were found, in the cave that is now being excavated they have found a large quantity of remains that the other caves do not have.

"We won't know if there is a direct relationship with the other caves in terms of chronology until we have the results of the dating analyses," explained Pallarés.

However, the professor is convinced that the Cueva de las Muelas y Sima Guillamón is an "important" site due to its typology and proximity to other nearby caves with evidence of funerary use.

The research team is made up of specialists including anthropologists, geologists, biologists, lithic industry specialists (some of them from the University of Murcia), as well as young people on work experience at the university and Erasmus students from Portugal and Germany.

The excavation is still "at the early stages" and it remains to be seen if "the site is really worth excavating in future projects".

Now read: 100,000m2 of algae pops up in the Mar Menor

Images: Somos Cultura Somos Región/@RegionCultura

Linea Directa Bottom Article M-Z CAR INSURANCE

Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox

Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)