Portal de Cartagena
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More than 400 new fossils have been found and classified in the new paleontological excavations of the Cueva Victoria, which began last July 15 and end on 15 August.
A team of ten people led by Drs Carlos and Luis Gibert Ferrández University of Barcelona, ​​working for a month in intensive sessions of up to twelve hours in the field, which covers an area of more than 3 kilometers of galleries.
This morning we received the visit of second deputy mayor and councilman of Decentralization, Nicholas Angel Bernal, spokesman of the government team and Councillor for Infrastructure, Francisco Espejo, and the Councillor for Tourism, Palazón Carolina, and have presented new findings the media.
During the tour of the site, located on the eastern slope of Cerro de San Ginés de la Jara, the directors of the excavation have explained the findings of abundant fossil human remains and animal species never before studied.
DISCOVERY OF TWO PARTS HUMAN
Among the most surprising, the site of Cueva Victoria has sparked international interest in the discovery of a phalanx and a fragment of the humerus associated with human species of African origin.
This discovery could revolutionize existing studies, reinforcing the theory that the first human migration into Europe and the mainland did not occur from the East but from Africa across the Strait.
Furthermore, as explained by the director of the excavation Luis Gibert, new pieces have been found African primate molars Oswaldi Theropithecus, which makes the Cueva Victoria in the only site outside of Africa that evidence remains of this species that lived in the continent for two and a half million years.
Excavations have also unearthed more than a hundred species of vertebrate fossils, including a totally new species of deer.
Experts from universities around the world have passed through the field to explore this rich biodiversity and understand the ecology of the Iberian peninsula southeast of a million years ago, says Gibert.
Among the vertebrate fossils have been found from bats, birds or rabbits to horses, deer, rhino, elephant and lynx.
Among the listed species, notes the large presence of hyenas who acted as scavengers and carried into the cave the remains of different species, it has even discover fossils of marine species such as seals, as explained Gibert.
A monographic GATHER IN THE CAVE OF WORK SINCE 1984
The team of ten experts working chain, explains Carlos Ferrandez, digging, cleaning, restoring, sorting and inventorying.
Once the installation is now in the cave, the remains are transferred to the archaeological museum for preservation.
Currently, 90 percent of t he fossils found in this site are in the Municipal Archaeological Museum Enrique Escudero de Castro de Cartagena, a collection amounting to 20,000 pieces, although there are others scattered in private collections.
Work on the Victoria Cave began around the year 1984, led by paleontologist Josep Gibert.
Now the updating of these twenty-seven years of work will be collected in a monograph with the classification of the mammal species found throughout the collection and t iene sufficient weight to their dissemination, Ferrandez says.
The research project of the Victoria Cave is powered by the Sierra Minera Tourist Consortium between the municipalities of Cartagena and La Union, with funding of 600,000 euros for the refurbishment of the rooms, the entrances to the cave and security inside and outside the same to avoid risks and problems as the spoils, as explained by Nicholas Angel Bernal.
OPEN
Like last summer, with completion of the campaign will be an open day to be held this Saturday 13 August from 9.00 in the morning in small groups of 20 people every 20 minutes.
To visit it is necessary to arrange an appointment at the Tourist Office of the City of Cartagena, phone 968 50 64 83, and hours of 10.00 to 14.00 and from 17.00 to 19.00 hours.
In addition, the reservoir may be opened to the public later this year, announced Bernal, visiting small groups to meet both the natural cavity such as paleontological excavations and mining.
Visitors can visit the only site of existing fossil vertebrates in the region that was formed naturally more than 1,100,000 years, although the cavity we know today has been transformed by subsequent mining.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Cartagena
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