Earthwatch, Cueva Victoria

The geological and human history of Cueva Victoria is somewhat interesting, and deserving of a post of its own. Hopefully if I get anything wrong, Luis will correct me.

The hills outside Cartagena are largely formed from limestone, and are thus prone to cave formation, since water penetrates the limestone and leaches it away, leaving openings behind. In the case of Cueva Victoria, this resulted in more than one occasion where the cave was exposed to the outside. During at least one of these exposures about 1-1.5 million years ago, a significant amount of erosion washed material rich in bones into the cave, filling (or nearly filling) the upper galleries. There are a wide variety of mostly mammalian bones in this material, on the order of 60-80 species have been found in the cave.

Museum display case containing CV finds and background.
In the upper right you can see a "map" of the cave.


We found horse molars (not attached to a jaw like these though).


The Entrance


The Entrance
There are narrow (1-1.5 foot wide) stairs going down.

The Entrance (as seen from where we worked)


Luis telling us about the cave.


We did a lot of work in this area.


A few vertebrae and other small bones there.


Me digging out the carnivore femur(?).


The team: Luis, Gary, me, Jair, Alisa, Alex, Alyssa, Bri


Cartagena itself was founded by Carthaginians, and taken over by Rome after the defeat of Carthage in the Punic Wars. It was a major port of the Iberian province, since the harbor was a good one, and easily defended.
Cartagena's wall remnants

Roman era lighthouse

View of the harbor (and of Karen and Sara Duffy)

Cartagena's Roman forum



It was also important due to the nearby mining activity. The Romans are estimated to have 40,000 people working in the mines. Of course, I now forget exactly which ores they were after, but I believe silver and copper are to be found. Cueva Victoria itself is a source of manganese ore, and I believe was not opened until the 19th century. The mining in this part of Spain was effectively stopped in 1992 as changes necessitated by Spain's entry into the EU put the mines out of business. This has had a significant effect on the economy of Cartagena, which is beginning to recast itself as a tourist destination.

When the miners worked Cueva Victoria, they used explosives to clear out portions of the mine, resulting in some large blocks of sedimentary deposits (breccia for the geologists reading this) lying on the floor of the cave. Some of these clearly have bones in them. The scientists are however reluctant to work on them, possibly because there are plenty of other, easier places to dig.

There is some detailed information in Spanish about Cueva Victora here. The Cinco Minutos is run by a volunteer from a previous year, that worked at the Orce site. It has some fairly nice pictures of the area (as will I when I can find a place that will let me upload them).