Rock shelter in Spain preserves the stories from hunting to farming around 8,000 years ago

A rock shelter called Coves del Fem in northeastern Spain preserves layers from both hunter-gatherer and early farming communities, showing the transition from hunting to farming around 8,000 years ago.

A 2026 dig at Coves del Fem found two well-preserved Mesolithic layers with hearths, flint tools, animal bones, and burnt plant remains that reveal the diet and land use of the last hunter-gatherers.

The site contains eight pits originally used as storage silos for grain, later filled with household waste that included decorated pottery, flint tools, and burnt seeds.