Evidence of pre-Neanderthal hominids, mammoths and rhinos found in the Cueva Negra in Caravaca

The remains and tools in the Caravaca cave are thought to date from almost a million years ago

This summer’s paleontological dig at the Cueva Negra, located in the Quípar gorge in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, has uncovered further evidence of the wildlife which inhabited the area around one million years ago, as well as more evidence of early humans using fire and flint tools.

The Mayor of Caravaca, José Francisco García, visited the site on Monday to see the results for himself, highlighting the fascination of an area which has been almost continuously inhabited over such a long period of time. In fact, this year’s dig, in a different area of the cave, has proved that periods of hominid inhabitation were interrupted by the occupation of large carnivores such as hyenas, and even mammoths and rhinos. Alongside their bones were found human tools, according to Dr Michael J. Walker of the University of Murcia, who has been overseeing digs at this site since 1990.

Other participants in the dig came from universities in New York, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Newcastle and Dublin, all keen to see a cave which was inhabited by early hominids between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago, at the end of the Pleistocene. The hominids probably belonged to the Homo heidelbergensis species, which is known to have existed in Europe from 900,000 to 150,000 years ago before giving way to the rise of the Neanderthals (150,000 to 40,000 years ago).

For more local news, events and visiting information go to the Caravaca de la Cruz section of Murcia Today.