The First Modern Humans on the Iberian Plateau Were Skilled Hunters and Experts in Their Environment

Knowledge about the earliest Homo sapiens settlements in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula during the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic remains limited. Traditionally, it was assumed that the Plateau was virtually depopulated after the disappearance of the Neanderthals, and that it was not reoccupied until the end of the Last Glacial, around 20,000 years ago, with the arrival of the first Anatomically Modern Humans. By contrast, Mediterranean, Cantabrian, and Atlantic coastal zones yielded most of the known sites and subsistence studies, offering a strong comparative framework for understanding the diversity of human adaptive strategies in different environments.

Now, a research team led by Edgar Téllez of the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution (CENIEH) presents in Quaternary Science Advances the first study applying taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis to the Iberian interior 36,000 years ago, based on faunal remains recovered from the archaeological site of Abrigo de La Malia (Tamajón, Guadalajara). The results show that human groups in the region possessed the skills required to develop effective subsistence strategies, mainly based on the hunting and processing of medium- and large-sized ungulates. These practices enabled them to adapt to the harsh climatic and environmental conditions of the Plateau during the early Upper Palaeolithic.

Brief but recurrent occupations over time

The study of animal remains demonstrates that the rockshelter was occupied recurrently for at least 10,000 years, in a context of constant climatic fluctuations. Human groups visiting the site primarily exploited red deer, wild horses, bison, and chamois, resources typical of woodland, mountainous, and grassland environments. The evidence suggests short-term occupations: the shelter was not used as a permanent camp, but rather visited for hunting, provisioning, and the initial processing of animal resources.

Research at La Malia shows that, although human communities faced complex and even hostile climatic environments, the region provided sufficient resources for their survival—and that these communities knew how to take advantage of them. These results challenge the idea of a population void in the Iberian interior and call for a reassessment of models of mobility, settlement, and adaptation among the first Homo sapiens in the Peninsula.

An international collaboration

This study was carried out in collaboration with researchers from several Spanish institutions, including the Institute of Archaeology-Mérida (CSIC–Junta de Extremadura), the Complutense University of Madrid, the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), and the University of the Basque Country.

Excavations at the Tamajón caves are made possible thanks to funding from the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha through annual calls for archaeological and palaeontological heritage excavation and research, with support from the Tamajón City Council and the G.E. Abismo caving group. This research was also supported by funding from the European Research Council (grants nº 805478, 949330, and 881299), the CENIEH, and the ERC.

Reference

Téllez, E., Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A., Rodríguez-Almagro, M., Núñez-Lahuerta, C., Arteaga-Brieba, A., Pablos, A., Sala, N. (2025). Subsistence strategies in the early Upper Paleolithic of Central Iberia: Evidence from Abrigo de la Malia. Quaternary Science Advances, 100297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2025.100297