MUTERMUR. From the Museum to the Field: Updating Scholarship on the Cave of Los Murciélagos in Albuñol, Granada

• Timeframe: 2021–2023
• Funding institutions: Regional Government of Madrid and Universidad de Alcalá de Henares
• Lead researcher: Francisco Martínez Sevilla
• MAN researcher: Ruth Maicas Ramos
• Research team: Francisco Martínez Sevilla, Primitiva Bueno, Rosa Barroso and Miriam Cubas: Department of History and Philosophy, Humanities Faculty, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares; Leonor Peña Chocarro: Spanish National Research Council / CSIC (Madrid); Mercedes Murillo: Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Universidad de Granada; Rafael Martínez Sánchez: Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Universidad de Córdoba; Manuel Altamirano: Universidad a Distancia / UNED (Córdoba); María Martín Seijo: Department of Historical Sciences, Universidad de Cantabria; Raquel Piqué and María Herrero Otal: Prehistory Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; José Antonio Lozano: Instituto Español de Oceanografía; Antonio Álvarez Valero: Geology Department, Universidad de Salamanca; Eva Fernandez-Dominguez: Archaeology Department, Durham University; Ruth Maicas Ramos: Prehistory Department, Museo Arqueológico Nacional

MUTERMUR project website

The Cave of Los Murciélagos in Albuñol is an iconic site for Spanish archaeologists and an exceptional record of the European Neolithic, as the excellent condition of its organic remains makes it unique.

Fifteen researchers from eleven different institutions are participating in this project to conduct a multidisciplinary study of all archaeological remains retrieved from the cave. The MUTERMUR project will also visually document and superficially clean the archaeological site. All of this has two main goals: to underscore the value of the site and its contents, and to share the results obtained using the latest technology with the international community.

28/09/2023 Informative note

Nota

The basketwork recovered from the Cueva de los Murciélagos de Albuñol (Granada), held by the National Archaeological Museum, has been identified as the oldest in southern Europe.

The research project, of which the museum forms part, has published this scientific discovery in the prestigious journal Science Advances.

• Martínez Sevilla, Francisco et alii, "The earliest basketry in southern Europe: Hunter-gatherer and farmer plant-based technology in Cueva de los Murciélagos (Albuñol)", Science Advances, Vol. 9, Nº 39, 2023. Article