A natural trap

Natural trap. Galería

We have discovered that this site was a centre of sporadic or occasional occupation, i.e., it was used during a series of short, specific but repeated periods in time. We also know why the H. heidelbergensis who came here used this cave: they entered to supply themselves with meat from animals that had fallen down the pit and were available as easy, fast “take-away” food. This scavenging activity by hominids meant direct competition with the carnivores that roamed the hills.

The most important feature, however, is the relationship illustrated in Galería between the two environments in the area- caves and open air. Both were a source of protein resources for the Atapuerca humans.

Although Galería is the only site that supplied them with biomass, its use was sporadic, indicating that these hunter-gatherers completed their diet with game.

The continuous cave/open-air relationship can also be appreciated in the analysis of the items discovered at this site, which show that animals were cut up in Gallery with stone tools manufactured outside, and that the raw material used for them was collected in the periphery. The hominids developed a behaviour pattern that maximised their profit from the environment, controlling their territory through this complementary pattern afforded by the two habitats.