200,000-year-old graffiti discovered in Marbella

A new archaeological discovery has altered the history of Marbella: the appearance of a stone block with graffiti that could be more than 200,000 years old. This landmark discovery is of particular importance as it confirms the existence of Middle Palaeolithic settlers in the town.

Marbella town hall’s department of culture, education and heritage has reported this discovery as part of an archaeological intervention in the Coto Correa enclave in Las Chapas. This area, known in the field of specialised studies for housing the oldest remains of the town, has been a site of archaeological protection since in the 1950s when lithic tools dating back to the lower Palaeolithic period were discovered.

The relevance of this discovery is twofold: on the one hand it confirms the presence of settlers in Marbella during the Early Middle Palaeolithic period, a period little known in Spain and unheard of in the province of Malaga. In addition, it provides this unique stone containing a set of graphic representations of human origin that could be 100,000 years older than the oldest representations of cave art.

The town hall is studying this unique artistic document aimed at confirming the date. The techniques applied for the definite dating consist of quartz analysis of different sediment samples, which will allow a precise chronology. In addition, documentation work will be carried out by means of 3D digitisation, which will make it possible to have a high-resolution virtual composition. In this way, it will be possible to study the entire surface in maximum detail.

Primitive hunters

The funding for this phase of research amounts to 8,000 euros and, beyond the municipal commitment to promote archaeological research, if the proposed dating is confirmed it will place Marbella as a reference in Palaeolithic studies. Once the commissioned studies have been completed, the town hall will announce various activities to present the findings and their scientific implications in detail.

The Coto Correa site has been known since 1953 when a series of lithic tools were discovered. In the Cortijo de Conca, Jorge Rein Segura discovered the oldest human industries in the province of Malaga to date. The site of the discovery was the marine terraces and beaches built at an average level of 20 to 40 metres above the present day, where groups of fruit gatherers and primitive hunters camped.

The size of the site and the amount of material collected in its surroundings has led to its division into three sectors: Coto Correa I or Artola Alto, Coto Correa II and Coto Correa III.

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