Cave in Pyrenees Shows 6,000 Years of Use

Why this is here: The cave contains hearths dating back about 6,000 years, challenging previous assumptions that people only briefly visited high-altitude environments.

Archaeologists in the eastern Pyrenees mountains of Spain uncovered a prehistoric cave repeatedly used over 2,000 years. The site at 2,235 meters elevation contains numerous hearths filled with fragments of a green mineral. Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution suggest the cave served as a camp for processing materials, possibly copper.

Excavations revealed four distinct layers of occupation. The second and third layers, roughly 5,500 to 3,000 years old, held 23 hearths with burned green mineral fragments resembling malachite. A child’s finger bone and baby tooth were also found within the third layer, hinting at possible burial practices.

Scientists are still confirming if the green mineral is definitively malachite. The excavation has not yet reached the cave’s deepest levels, leaving the full archaeological sequence incomplete. Further work this summer aims to uncover more about the cave’s origins and purpose.