Palaeolithic archaeology in the conglomerate caves of north-eastern Iberia

Large, conglomerate caves in north-eastern Iberia have been significant places since the Neolithic through to historical times; however, their significance during the Palaeolithic has barely been explored. This project is the first systematic study of the use of these iconic geological landmarks among Pleistocene hunter-gatherers.In north-eastern Iberia, the margins of the Ebro Depression are characterised by conglomeratic formations that originated as Palaeogene alluvial fans of the fluvial systems discharging into the Ebro Basin. These Palaeogene coastal areas form an exceptional geological area, recognised by UNESCO as the Central Catalonia Global Geopark, that hosts several natural parks (Parc Natural) on the iconic conglomerate massifs of Sant Llorenç del Munt, Montser rat and Montsant. Neogene karstification processes resulted in abundant cave complexes within these formations, such as the Montserrat Caves, the Simanya and Ànimes cave systems in Sant Llorenç del Munt, or the Cova de la Font Major in l’Espluga de Francolí.This research is funded by the Generalitat de Catalunya's Culture Department (CLT009/18/00024 and 00053) and AGAUR (2017SGR-0011 and 1040), the Spanish Ministry of Science (PID2020-113960GB-I00) and the City Council of l'Espluga de Francolí. A.R.-H., J.I.M. and M.G. are supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the María de Maeztu excellence accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M); M.S. is the beneficiary of the UAM TyV Program, R.H. of the URV 2019PMF-PIPF-59 grant and J.R.R. of the UA MARSALAS21-22 grant.Peer reviewe