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Legend of the prisoners of the Cova Negra

Xàtiva, La Costera, Valencia

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Legend of the prisoners of the Cova Negra

Curiosity · Xàtiva, La Costera, Valencia

Image of Xàtiva, not of the place itself.

Tradition holds that the Romans threw prisoners to the lions in the Cova Negra of Xàtiva, a cave that in fact owes its fame to a very different find: it is one of the most important Neanderthal sites on the Peninsula. Excavations, led by Valentín Villaverde since 1984, have brought to light fossil remains of Neanderthals, including child individuals whose bones have been preserved intact, which suggests deliberate burial practices. Lithic tools of the Mousterian culture have also been found there. Stratigraphic studies place the occupation between about 117,000 years ago, during an interglacial period, and about 50,000 years ago, coinciding with the Würm glaciation and the near-extinction of the Neanderthals.

Photo: Sjaak Kempe from Groningen, The Netherlands (CC BY 2.0)

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