Cova Negra

Cova Negra is an archaeological site near the town of Xàtiva in the Province of Valencia, Spain, with remains that show sporadic and short-term occupation by Neanderthals in the Mousterian period.[1]

Cova Negra
Black and white photograph showing the entrance to a cave, with two people standing in front, looking at the camera
Cova Negra, 1928
RegionProvince of Valencia
Coordinates38.965046°N 0.496271°W / 38.965046; -0.496271
TypeIntermittent settlement
History
PeriodsMousterian

Location and description

The cave is located in a valley alongside the Albaida river, and an area of 57 hectares around the cave was declared a Cultural Heritage Site. Since 2006 the site is a Municipal Natural Site, also named Cova Negra.

Archaeological finds

The Neanderthals who occupied the area were avid eaters of birds; 247 remains of 18 different bird species were found, especially doves and choughs.[2] Bird consumption in Cova Negra and other caves such as Cueva de Bolomor, Gorham's Cave, and Ibex Cave, prove that the northwestern part of the Mediterranean saw widespread exploitation of "small, fast game".[3]

In 2013, a fragment from an adult parietal bone were found, a cranial fragment from a child, and a child's premolar. By that time, the cave had 25 pieces of Neanderthal remains (seven individuals in all), including many of children (one a teenager, four children).[4] A study carried out in 2019 provided the first ESR / U-Th chronology for the Cova Negra site and indicates that Neanderthals occupied this site during MIS 8–6, between 273 ± 26 ka and 146 ± 34 ka. These results suggest that human occupation took place at the end of the Middle Pleistocene, and hence it is older than proposed by previous thermoluminescence ages obtained on sediments.[5]

History and research

The site was discovered by the priest G. Viñes in 1933.[6]

  • Silex tools found in the Cova Negra
    Silex tools found in the Cova Negra
  • Parts of parietal bone from an adult Neanderthal
    Parts of parietal bone from an adult Neanderthal

See also

References

Notes
  1. Arsuaga et al. 2007.
  2. Martínez Vallea, Guillem Calatayuda & Villaverde Bonilla 2016.
  3. Morin et al. 2019.
  4. Hallados nuevos restos de neandertal 2013.
  5. Richard, M.; Falguères, C.; Pons-Branchu, E.; Foliot, L.; Guillem, P.M.; Martínez-Valle, R.; Eixea, A.; Villaverde, V. (2019). "ESR/U-series chronology of early Neanderthal occupations at Cova Negra (Valencia, Spain)". Quaternary Geochronology. 49: 283–290. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2018.05.004. S2CID 134242257.
  6. Gibbons & Moreno 2002, p. 346.

Bibliography
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