Liliana Póvoas
Universidade de Lisboa, Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Department Member
The Gruta da Oliveira is a Middle Paleolithic site discovered in 1989 in the framework of the speleo‑archeological exploration of the karstic system associated with the spring of the Almonda River. Removal of the thick brecciated rubble... more
The Gruta da Oliveira is a Middle Paleolithic site discovered in 1989 in the framework of the speleo‑archeological exploration of the karstic system associated with the spring of the Almonda River. Removal of the thick brecciated rubble that sealed its collapsed entrance allowed excavation, between 1992 and 2012, of the underlying, ~9 m‑thick archeological stratification. Besides lithic assemblages in flint, quartz and quartzite totaling >25,000 objects, Neandertal skeletal remains, and hearth features, the deposit also yielded abundant microfaunal, faunal and wood charcoal remains. Dated to the ~35‑105 ka interval by Radiocarbon, Uranium‑Thorium and Thermoluminescence, the Gruta da Oliveira is a reference succession for the paleoenvironmental and paleoanthropological study of the Upper Pleistocene of Iberia.
