Human Remains at Nerja Cave

"Pepita" burial in 1982.

After four decades of its excavation, a skeleton discovered in Nerja cave (Málaga, Spain) was now under an anthropological analysis. 

A Mesolithic inhumation was discovered during the 1982 excavation. The skeleton was in right lateral decubitus position, the cranium was south-west oriented, the upper limbs over the thorax and flexed legs.

This new study of the “Pepita”skeleton confirmed she was an 18-20 years old individual, with a height of 149.62 cm. The preauricular groove suggests she may have had children and the entheseal changes indicate a weak muscular development, which the authors attribute to limited physical activity. Isotope analyses indicate a diet with high consumption of animal protein, as well as some marine resources. Although her diet was very similar to those of other women in contemporary or later sites, her morphology differed.

This burial is one of the oldest Mesolithic burials in the Iberian Peninsula and “is particularly important because it is the only known burial of this period in the south of Iberia”.

Source: 

Sánchez, M. G. (1982). El esqueleto epipaleolítico de la" Cueva de Nerja"(Málaga). Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Granada, 7, 37-71.

Fernández, L. E., Sanchidrián, J. L., Jiménez-Brobeil, S. A., Remolins, G., Díaz-Zorita, M., Morell, B., Subirà, M. E., López-Onaindía, D., Maroto, R. M., Roca, M. G., Román, C. M., Santos, F. J. & Gibaja, J. F. (2020). Mesolithic human remains at Cueva de Nerja (Málaga, Spain): anthropological, isotopic and radiocarbon data. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 12(10), 1-16.

Photo: M. Pellicer | Sánchez,1982