Overview
- A study published Wednesday, June 3, 2026, reports that Cova 338 at 2,235 metres in the eastern Pyrenees contains 23 hearths and four occupation layers showing repeated visits over millennia.
- Excavations conducted in 2021–2023 by teams from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and IPHES‑CERCA sampled a 6 m² area near the cave entrance and recovered animal bones, pottery fragments and two pendants.
- Researchers recovered a child's finger bone and a baby tooth in older layers, which suggests at least some human remains were deposited there but does not yet establish funerary practice.
- Many hearths contained crushed and thermally altered green mineral fragments that resemble malachite and were deliberately burned, but mineral identification is provisional and university labs are still testing the samples.
- Because the trench has not reached bedrock, researchers plan more fieldwork in summer 2026 to extend the sequence and, if malachite is confirmed, to trace its origin and clarify how high‑mountain camps fit into prehistoric economies.