Cave sealed for 16,800 years preserves Stone Age home
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Archaeologists in Cantabria, Spain, uncovered a remarkably preserved Stone Age living space within the La Garma cave after a rockfall sealed off an entrance roughly 16,800 years ago.
The sealed gallery contained a roughly five square meter oval-shaped area that likely served as a home. Researchers believe the inhabitants built a structure of wood and hides within the natural cave formations, and they found a hearth along with stone, antler, and bone tools.
The team documented over 4,600 items left in the cave, including projectile points, needles, decorations, and what may be an early form of a harpoon. This large number of objects, preserved in their original positions, is unusual because later disturbances typically scatter artifacts across archaeological sites. Among the discoveries, a decorated bone featuring images of an aurochs, an extinct wild cattle species, and a human face stood out to the researchers as a unique combination of motifs.
The concentration of tools and materials suggests the area was a central location for daily tasks like cooking, crafting, and repairing items, offering insight into the group’s organization and symbolic practices. While the cave has seen human presence at various times, the sealed gallery provided an exceptional archaeological time capsule.
