New fieldwork at the Barranc de la Boella site reveals fresh evidence of human presence nearly one million years ago and confirms the key role of southern mammoths in southern Europe

Between 5 and 27 September, a new excavation campaign took place at the Barranc de la Boella site (La Canonja, Tarragona), directed by a team from the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA).

The work focused on the areas known as Cala 1 and La Mina, where numerous fossils dated to around one million years ago were recovered. These excavations continue to advance our understanding of the first settlers of Western Europe and their interaction with large mammals during the Early Pleistocene.

At Cala 1, the excavation uncovered a new focus of human activity, with animal remains including a hippopotamus tooth and dozens of stone tools. At La Mina, remains of fallow deer, wild horses, and hippopotamuses were found associated with flint knives, indicating the recurrent presence of human groups in the Francolí Delta during the Early Pleistocene.

All these findings confirm that the Barranc de la Boella was a key territory for the first hominins, who repeatedly visited the area to exploit animal resources and obtain lithic raw materials for tool production.

Participation and outreach activities

On 20 September, an open day was held, attracting more than 350 visitors, mainly families with children but also enthusiasts and people interested in learning first-hand about the research being carried out at the site.

The event included a hands-on archaeology workshop for children, led by Andrea Alías, outreach technician at IPHES-CERCA. The activity allowed participants to experience archaeological work and better understand the importance of scientific research.

Many visitors also took the opportunity to visit the newly inaugurated Espai Mammuthus, located at Hort del Mas de l’Abeurador. This exhibition space allows visitors to see some of the main original fossils recovered at La Boella in recent years and strengthens the connection between scientific research and heritage dissemination. The Espai Mammuthus thus serves as an ideal complement for understanding the exceptional palaeontological and cultural value of this site.

Featured scientific publication: The mammoths of La Boella

Coinciding with the excavation campaign, the journal Historical Biology has published the article “Multidisciplinary approach to Mammuthus meridionalis from the late-Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, North-East Iberia)”, authored by an international team led by Darío Fidalgo, Palmira Saladié, Josep Vallverdú, Rosa Huguet, and Andreu Ollé, among others.

The study presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the remains of the southern mammoth (Mammuthus meridionalis) recovered over more than eighteen years of excavation. Nearly 500 fossil remains were analysed, including four nearly complete tusks and several well-preserved molars, belonging to various adult and juvenile individuals.

Morphological and isotopic analyses have identified an advanced form of Mammuthus meridionalis, adapted to Mediterranean grassland environments between 1.07 and 0.87 million years ago.

The data confirm human activity associated with the processing of a mammoth carcass, with cut marks on ribs and a clear spatial association with Acheulean stone tools. This discovery represents one of the earliest pieces of evidence of interaction between humans and megafauna in southern Europe, within the context of the first Acheulean dispersals across the continent.

“The mammoth remains from La Boella provide an exceptional record for understanding how the first human groups of the Pleistocene obtained and processed large animals in Mediterranean delta environments,” highlights Palmira Saladié, researcher at IPHES-CERCA and co-author of the study.

Funding and research team

The campaign involved more than 40 researchers and students, mainly from IPHES-CERCA and the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), as well as participants from other Spanish and international universities (Valencia, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Autonomous University of Madrid, and institutions in Portugal, France, Mexico, Indonesia, and China). This broad participation reflects the strong scientific and academic interest in the site at an international level.

The intervention is part of the four-year research project “Palaeoenvironmental evolution and prehistoric settlement in the Francolí, Gaià, and Siurana river basins and the Camp de Tarragona streams”, approved and funded by the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia (project reference CLT009/18/00053).

The excavations have been jointly funded by the Department of Culture and the La Canonja City Council, which has shown a strong commitment to the preservation and promotion of local archaeological heritage. The municipality has also promoted the creation of the Espai Mammuthus, an interpretation centre dedicated to the Barranc de la Boella site, aimed at disseminating the discoveries and fostering cultural tourism in the area.

Together, these actions consolidate the Barranc de la Boella as an international reference for the study of the earliest human occupations in Europe and as an outstanding example of collaboration between research, heritage, and society.

Article reference

Fidalgo, D., Rosas, A., Pineda, A., Ramírez-Pedraza, I., Ros-Montoya, S., Rodríguez de la Fuente, D., López-Polín, L., Gómez-Morgado, L., Martínez-Navarro, B., Moreno-Ribas, E., García-Tabernero, A., Huguet, R., Ollé, A., Vallverdú, J. & Saladié, P. (2025). Multidisciplinary approach to Mammuthus meridionalis from the late-Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, North-East Iberia). Historical Biology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2551767