Sima del Elefante

The Sima del Elefante (Elephant Pit) site is in Trinchera del Ferrocarril (Railway Cutting). It became exposed more than a million years ago, and then began to fill up again until it was clogged 120,000 years ago- the date of the levels that touch its limestone roof. It is 18 m deep, and excavation began at the lowest levels in 1996. For several digging seasons, Sima del Elefante (Elephant Pit) yielded abundant fauna remains including red deer, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, wolf, lynx, bear, fox, rodents, fish eagle and terrapin, tortoise, beaver, etc., but we had to wait until 2000 to find the first evidence of human activity, a small flint flake: proof of human presence here at least a million years ago. This was not the end of the surprises hidden in this cave. We decided to dig the higher (and hence more recent) levels. In the 2001 summer dig, we found large quantities of stone industry material, attributed to Mode 2, as well as remains of elephants, hyenas, lions, horses, rhinoceros, bison and others. The levels below also yielded Mode 1 (Oldowan) stone tools, primarily flint flakes, while Mode 3 or Mousterian tools have been found at the highest (most recent) levels of Sima del Elefante.

During the 2006 dig, after 10 years of excavation, it was decided to remove the scaffolding to dig beneath the present track through the Cutting, the lowest part of the site which contains the oldest levels in the Sierra. The new scaffolding now in place at Elefante has a dual purpose. It allows digging to continue below the level of the path, while at the same time making the site a safe, visitable resource for the public.