New excavation season at La Griera (Calafell) uncovers Neanderthal occupations dating back nearly 100,000 years

The current excavation season at the La Griera site in Calafell will conclude on 15 December. The fieldwork is directed by Dr Juan I. Morales, researcher at IPHES-CERCA, and Dr Diego Lombao, from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. The campaign has led to a major advance in the understanding of this key site for reconstructing the life and evolution of Neanderthals along the northeastern Iberian coastline.

New excavations in a layer dating to around 100,000 years ago

This season saw the beginning of large-area excavation in Unit IV, a layer dated to approximately 100,000 years ago. More than 2,000 archaeological remains have been recovered in this sector, mainly stone tools and animal bones consumed by the Neanderthal groups that occupied the rock shelter.

The lithic assemblage consists primarily of flint tools, including scrapers and denticulates, mainly used for butchering and processing prey. The faunal remains indicate that horse was, at least for now, the main species hunted and processed in this level, although occasional remains of other herbivores —such as deer and rabbit— as well as small carnivores like lynx, have also been documented.

These materials will make it possible to reconstruct in detail which species were hunted and how local resources were exploited by these Neanderthal groups.

Back to more than 150,000 years ago

Alongside the extensive excavation, the stratigraphic test pit exploring the oldest parts of the site has continued to advance. This year, work focused specifically on levels V and VI, with chronologies older than 150,000 years.

These investigations are essential for documenting the earliest occupations at La Griera and for understanding how landscape, climate and Neanderthal adaptive strategies changed over tens of thousands of years. The excellent preservation of sediments in these deeper layers opens the door to future specialised studies that will help reconstruct past environmental conditions and Neanderthal lifeways.

Overall, the sequence at La Griera confirms that it is one of the most extensive and continuous Neanderthal occupation records in northeastern Iberia, spanning up to the last 200,000 years.

A site open to the public

Beyond scientific research, this season once again prioritised bringing prehistory closer to the wider public.

The open-day events, co-organised with the Calafell City Council and Calafell Històric, were very well received, with more than 70 residents and visitors attending. Participants learned about the earliest history of Calafell, observed how an archaeological excavation is carried out, which tools are used and how finds are recorded.

These activities were complemented by a prehistoric workshop led by Andrea Alías, IPHES-CERCA outreach technician, where families experimented with techniques and materials inspired by Neanderthal daily life. Finally, the interactive visit to the field laboratory, set up at Espai Palou in Calafell, offered a close-up look at the scientific workflow: cleaning and classifying finds, initial laboratory studies and the importance of recording every detail of the archaeological context.

Together, these activities reinforce La Griera’s role as a reference point for the public communication and socialisation of prehistoric heritage in the municipality of Calafell.

A training laboratory for new generations of archaeologists

The 2025 campaign brought together a highly international and interdisciplinary team. Researchers from IPHES-CERCA, the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, the Inter-University Research Centre for Atlantic Cultural Landscapes (CISPAC), the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, CNRS–Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, the Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (Berlin) and the University of Lancashire took part in the fieldwork.

At the same time, La Griera strengthens its role as a hands-on training space for university students. Participants included students from the undergraduate Archaeology programmes of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universitat de Barcelona; from the Master’s in Archaeology and Heritage at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; and from the PhD programmes in Prehistory and Human Evolution (Universitat Rovira i Virgili) and the Interuniversity PhD Programme in Ancient World Studies (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

This combination of cutting-edge research, specialised training and public outreach makes La Griera a true “field school”, where new generations of archaeologists are trained while advancing our understanding of the earliest history of the region.

Funding and institutional support

The archaeological work at La Griera is part of the four-year project ARQ001SOL-172-2022, Cultural transitions during the Pleistocene and Holocene in the coastal–pre-coastal zones of Catalonia, linked to the University of Barcelona and approved by the Catalan Government’s Department of Culture.

The excavations are supported and funded by the Calafell City Council, which has recently signed an agreement with IPHES-CERCA to promote research and public engagement at the site as part of a long-term strategy to enhance the municipality’s prehistoric heritage.