Neanderthal remains at the nearby Cabezo Gordo

The Sima de las Palomas was an important prehistorical site in Torre Pacheco

The "Sima de las Palomas" archaeological site is located on Cabezo Gordo, the only mountain within the municipal boundaries of Torre Pacheco, which at 312 metres stands out from the rest of the countryside on the edge of the Mar Menor.

The Cueva del Agua has tunnels which criss-cross the mountain, and in the Sima de las Palomas pothole many fragments of crania and jawbones have been found and are of enormous interest to paleontologists and anthropologists.

The excavations carried out since 1994 have unearthed remains dating from between 200,000 and 500,000 years ago, demonstrating that both Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis and Homo Sapiens Arcaico were present on the outcrop. Both these species play a crucial part in the search for the “missing link” between them and their more recent counterparts, Homo Sapiens Sapiens and Cro-Magnon Man.

The remains of other animals found at the site have led experts to believe that humans could have lived there over 300,000 years ago, with clear evidence being unearthed of the presence of deer, horses, lynx, lions and land tortoises among others.
The early hominids fed off a varied diet including an abundance of deer and wild horses, but in times of scarcity they also hunted smaller beasts such as tortoises and snails as well as eating fruit.

Big game hunting was a job for those with most experience, who would spend days searching for prey and attempting to direct animals towards narrow passes where other hunters lay in wait, armed with lances. The tips of these weapons were made with sharpened stone hardened by fire or with a cut flint blade which could be attached by means of vegetable fibre or animal gut.

Each summer, archaeology students from across the world partake in the summer excavation camp at the Sima de las Palomas, which is the most important Neanderthal site in the Mediterranean arc, having now yielded remains from eight different individuals, in the form of 120 different pieces of bone and teeth and other items which would have been used in the daily lives of the inhabitants of this cave..

The site has yielded very rare virtually complete skeletons, with 3 individuals,  2 adults and one younger individual, believed to have been buried in some sort of landslide.

Archaeologists are unable to tell whether the individuals were alive when buried, or whether they had been lain in this position after death, but the quantity of material found on this site indicates that it was used by a number of individuals over a long period of time.

The site at the moment appears quite low down within the rock face, but at the time it was inhabited would have been a lot more open and easily accessible. Over the years the internal space was literally filled with silt, conserving the remains and bones buried within, and whilst this created conditions which preserved the bones, it makes extraction of the remains a slow and painstaking process as the now solid silt is carefully chipped away bit by bit.

Volunteers spend most of their summer working in cramped conditions on their knees, but the site provides an invaluable opportunity for archaeology students to gain field experience and learn more about their chosen area of study.

Plans are for the finds to be displayed in a new museum of  Paleontology, which will bring together remains from other prehistoric sites across the Region.

In the meantime, anyone interested in archaeology or in learning more about the archaeological sites within the region, may enjoy visiting the archaeological museum in Murcia.

There is an excellent display there which shows the development of what is now, essentially, us, together with a well constructed map charting the development of other species, such as the Neanderthals, who inhabited this area before we came along.

Neanderthals evolved in Europe and were here up until around 30,000 years ago, although the individuals found in the Sima de las Palomas site are believed to have belonged to a period known as the Pleistocene Superior, which dates them somewhere between 150,000 and 300,000 years old.

They became extinct when Homo sapiens, ( us) moved across from Africa 30,000 years ago and were considerably more intelligent and dexterous than urban legend would have us believe. Youll be surprised at the sophistication and quality of the flint tools they made and used if ever you get the chance to visit the archaeological museum, and the quality of the flints found on this site clearly shows the ability to manipulate flint and use tools in various ways.