Ranked: Spain’s Most Extraordinary Archeological Discoveries

Spain unearthed

Spain is known for its sandy beaches and sizzling tapas, but it has been a cultural crossroads for millennia. From the ancient Talayotic culture of the Balearic Islands to Celts, Romans, and Moorish settlers from North Africa, any number of civilizations have left traces behind. Our team has picked out and ranked what we think are the most significant archaeological finds ever uncovered in Spanish soil.

Click through this gallery to discover the most incredible archeological sites in Spain...

30. Hills of Las Médulas

Ever looked at the fine gold jewelry of the Roman era and wondered where the emperors dug up all those precious metals? The hills of Las Médulas near León in northwest Spain certainly yielded their fair share of gold.

During the 1st century AD, Rome’s best engineers flocked here in an early version of a gold rush to mine the hills for their deposits, using a type of hydraulic power that Pliny the Elder called 'ruina montium' or ‘wrecking of mountains.’ They left the landscape in ruins, and the scars are still visible today.

29. Los Millares

The Copper Age, a period of transition between the Stone and Bronze Ages, doesn’t get the attention of prehistory's other great eras, but it's no less important. Los Millares, 12 miles from Almería, was one of the most important Copper Age sites in Europe, with a 1,000-strong society living here around 2700 BC. This society pioneered early metallurgy and created a complex site with smelting furnaces and tombs where tools, weapons, and ornaments were buried alongside their owners.

28. Covetes dels Moros

Visit the Fos Ravine near Bocairent in Valencia, and you’ll see a curious array of 50 'windows' chiseled into the sheer rockface. Various theories have abounded – that they could be cells for a Visigothic monastery or graves for townspeople – but since 2016 it's been thought that they were granary stores built in the 10th or 11th centuries for Berbers keen to keep their food safe. Each belonged to a single family, but passageways were carved into the rock during the 17th century to link them up as a wartime refuge.

27. Pyramids of Güímar

Set on the Canary Island of Tenerife, these six stepped pyramids caused quite a controversy among historians and archeologists. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl sparked the idea that there might be links between these structures and Aztec buildings in Latin America, having proved it was possible to cross the Atlantic in a simple boat. But the discovery of 19th-century pottery fragments suggests a more pedestrian explanation – that they were simply stones gathered up by peasants farming in their fields during the 1800s.

26. Palace of Medina Azahara

The Taj Mahal is dubbed the greatest love letter on Earth, built by Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, but the Medina Azahara near Córdoba might be a close second. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III – the Umayyad Muslim ruler of Córdoba in the 10th century – is said to have built this impressive palace replete with marble, gold, and precious stones for his favorite wife, Azahara.

Unfortunately, research suggests it was more likely a simple show of strength for the newly independent western caliphate. Even more unfortunately, the city was ruined a few years later and the palace was only rediscovered in the early 20th century.

25. Roman mosaics of Italica

As the homeland of not one but two emperors, Italica – a filming location for Game of Thrones – had a vital role to play in the Roman Empire. It was one of the earliest Roman settlements in Spain, built to house soldiers that had fought Hannibal in North Africa, but the area really got rich when Trajan and his nephew Hadrian came to power in the early 2nd century. Local farmers exported grain and olive oil to Rome, bringing in enough to build grand mosaics and one of the empire’s biggest amphitheaters to show off their wealth.

24. Rock-cut houses at Tiermes

This site was once an Iron Age hill fort that initially resisted the Romans, but by 98 BC the fort was conquered by Roman consul Titus Didius and the town began a slow switch to the Roman way of life. By the end of the 1st century AD it had an aqueduct capable of carrying 71 liters a second, along with two forums and impressive public monuments. Unusually, though, these structures were hewn directly from the rock using a Celtiberian building method overlaid with Roman façades.

23. Bicha of Balazote

Like the Egyptian sphinx, this curious-looking creature combines two familiar animals, with the body of a bull and the head of a human. It was part of a 5th-century-BC funerary monument and is said to represent Achelous, a Greek river god, in an adapted Greek style. Rediscovered in 1879 by a local resident in Balazote, near Albacete, it now lives in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.

22. El Majuelo salting factory

You probably wouldn’t fancy living next door to this fish processing plant in Almuñécar – just think of the stink before the days of refrigeration – but it’s well worth a visit now as the pungent aromas are long gone. This ancient factory started life as a fish salting plant for the Phoenicians in the 5th century BC and later developed under the Romans, with each of these hollows holding ground-down fish guts and fillets ready to be made into a strong sauce known as garum. It lay hidden until being uncovered in the 1970s.

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21. Moorish Cistern of Cáceres

This huge subterranean cistern was built by Berber Muslims between the 9th and 11th centuries and went on to supply water to the Cáceres area for generations. It's one of the best-preserved medieval cisterns in modern-day Spain and Portugal. The laborers gathered stones from existing Roman and Visigoth buildings to create the huge tank, stretching 45 feet by 32 feet, which eventually became the base for the magnificent Palacio de las Veletas – now home to the art and archaeology-focused Cáceres Museum.

20. Iberian Citadel of Calafell

Ever wondered how people lived before the Romans came along? Visitors to the Iberian Citadel of Calafell, set in a coastal spot between Barcelona and Tarragona, can do exactly that with an open-air museum dedicated to an Iron Age village.

Some 2,500 years ago, these narrow streets were filled with farmers and hunters who lived off the area's hills and swamps. Excavations only began in the early 1980s and it became a center for 'experimental archeology,' where experts attempted to reconstruct how the village might have looked.

19. Naveta des Tudons

It’s dubbed 'naveta,' or 'little boat,' because its shape is reminiscent of a boat turned upside down – but there’s nothing little about this important funerary monument on the island of Menorca. In use roughly between 1200 to 750 BC, it’s believed to be the oldest surviving building in Spain and perhaps even the oldest in Europe. It was the final resting place for more than 100 graves, with bronze bracelets and bone buttons buried alongside.

18. Treasure of Villena

Stumbling across one of the largest Bronze Age hoards in Europe doesn't happen every day, so when a magnificent set of gold bracelets, vessels, silver and iron treasures was discovered on a dried-up riverbed in Villena, Alicante, in 1963, it attracted plenty of attention. That interest intensified in 2024 when experts took a closer look, and realized that two of the 59 objects were made using iron from a meteorite that landed on Earth long before anyone could have understood where it came from.

17. Phoenician shipwrecks of Mazarrón

Long before rail or road, sailing was the quickest way to get around, and a pair of ships discovered near the southern town of Mazarrón offer crucial clues about those ancient seafarers and their trades. Believed to be some 2,600 years old – among the oldest ever found in the Mediterranean – they were discovered in the 1990s and have been brought to the surface piece by piece.

Mazarrón 1, as the first ship is imaginatively called, is currently on display in Cartagena's National Museum of Underwater Archeology. Mazarrón 2 remained in situ for many years, but has just been raised after concerns for its safety on the seabed.

16. Moorish Baths of Jaén

It’s easy to lose your keys, but it’s not so easy to lose a 4,800 square foot bathhouse – among the largest in Spain. Yet, when the Villardompardo Palace was built on top of the baths in the 16th century, that’s exactly what happened.

Known as the Hammam al-wallad ('the baths of the boy,') the Moorish Baths of Jaén were built in 1002 on the site of former Roman baths, and were used for centuries before being taken over as tanneries. They were only rediscovered in 1913, though the Spanish Civil War delayed restoration until the 1970s.

15. Lady of Elche

In August 1897, 18-year-old Manuel Campello was doing farmwork in Alcudia, Valencia, when he came across a large stone. When he turned it over, he was met by the enigmatic visage of this 2,500-year-old bust.

Known as the Lady of Elche, it’s a renowned example of early Iberian art, probably depicting a Carthaginian goddess and once painted with vivid colors. It was displayed in the Louvre in Paris for more than 40 years but was returned to Spain to keep it safe during World War II, and now lives in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.

14. The Dolmen of Sorginetxe

Double, double, toil, and trouble – you might be able to imagine Shakespeare’s three witches chanting around this imposing megalithic monument known as the Dolmen of Sorginetxe. It was built around 2500 BC – around the same time as the pyramids of Giza – and is one of the best-preserved examples of the megalithic monuments dotted across the Basque region. It garnered its own mythology as locals dubbed it 'the witch’s house,' following a legend that it was built by witches, perhaps because of its associations as a burial place.

13. Costitx bulls

Bulls play a key part in Spanish culture, from bull-fighting rings to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, and the importance of these animals stretches back millennia. These bronze sculptures found in 1894 in Costitx, Majorca, date from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC.

They were cast by the island’s Talayotic culture, possibly as part of a cult or to worship a bull-like deity. They’re now a topic of debate as Majorcan authorities have repeatedly pushed, so far unsuccessfully, for the return of the bulls from the National Archeological Museum in Madrid.

12. Early human remains at Orce

When farmer Tomás Serrano was digging in his fields near Orce in Granada in 1976, he came across 'stones that resemble bones'. The ensuing excavations turned up a skull fragment believed to be from Europe's earliest hominid, but within a year, some experts argued that 'Orce Man' was in fact 'Orce Donkey,' as a cranial ridge implied that it might be from an equine species instead.

The archaeologists were ridiculed, but it turns out they weren’t so far off. In 2002, a child’s tooth was discovered at nearby Barranco León that was an incredible 1.4 million years old – the oldest homo genus remains on the continent.

11. Tarragona’s Roman amphitheatre

The first and oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula was in Tarragona, then called Tarraco, which quickly became a major trading center and a jewel in the crown of the province. The 2nd-century AD amphitheater was one of the finest buildings even among the city’s grand architecture, carved into the bedrock overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

It hosted gladiatorial fights for up to 14,000 spectators and later became the site of a 6th-century basilica, a medieval church, and even a prison for the inmates who built the port of Tarragona in 1780.

10. Necropolis of Son Real

A sprawling, prehistoric burial site might not sound especially exciting, but for archeologists the chance to examine some 300 Iron Age skeletons – interred alongside treasured items like weapons, jewelry, foodstuffs, and even musical instruments – is a rare opportunity. The Necropolis of Son Real on the north coast of Majorca showcases the progression of different cultures and funerary rites from the 7th century onwards, through the 5th century BC when the tombs began to take on the shapes of ships and horseshoes.

9. La Sarga cave paintings

Some 7,000 years ago, ancient hunter-gatherers from the Neolithic period turned the walls of these caves into their canvases to depict deer, other animals, human figures, and geometric shapes. Set in Alcoy in the Valencia region, they were discovered in 1951 and became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 for their remarkable insight into a "critical phase of human development."

8. Ruins of Segobriga

Celts once lived across Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany, and so-called 'Celtiberians' once inhabited the Iberian Peninsula. They were the first to establish a settlement at Segobriga in the central Spanish region of Cuenca, supposedly naming it for two Celtiberian words – 'sego' ('victory') and 'briga' ('fortress').

It was later taken over by the Romans and became a major outpost, with an amphitheater seating 5,500, public baths, city walls, and even an acropolis. These sites remained hidden until the ancient city was discovered in 1888.

7. Human remains at Atapuerca

The earliest roots of humankind are usually traced to Africa – but to get a glimpse of how our early ancestors made their way to Europe, archeologists and anthropologists turned to the caves of the Sierra de Atapuerca.

The sites constitute "an exceptional example of continuous human occupation," according to UNESCO, offering up fossils of hominid species more than a million years old. The sites have produced a new species ('homo antecessor'), while engraved hunting scenes and anthropomorphic figures offer further valuable clues about Europe's earliest human inhabitants.

6. Dolmen of Menga

It’s bigger than Stonehenge – in fact, it’s one of the largest megaliths in Europe, made up of stones weighing up to 150 tons – and this burial mound near the city of Antequera in Andalusia reveals that its ancient builders had a remarkable knowledge of the heavens. Built around 2500 BC, during the Iberian Copper Age, its northeast entry perfectly captures the rising sun during the summer solstice.

5. El Pindal Cave

The outside of the Pindal Caves in Asturias is impressive, edged by sheer sea cliffs and near a tiny 16th-century chapel. But what’s inside might be even more beautiful: some of the finest Paleolithic art in the region dating back 13,000 to 18,000 years, including bison, fish, horses, and a rare depiction of a now-extinct mammoth. This depiction has been dubbed the 'elefante enamorado' ('elephant in love') although it’s more likely the red ochre depicts a bloodied wound rather than anything romantic.

4. Roman theatre of Mérida

This huge Roman theatre is so well-preserved it’s enough to give you stage fright, as you tread its marble floor and imagine the 6,000-strong crowd captivated by the drama playing out beneath its towering columns. Built in 15 BC by Roman consul Marcus Agrippa, it remains the finest example of a Roman theater in Western Europe and the most famous monument uncovered in Augusta Emerita (now modern-day Mérida), which was once the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania.

3. Hand of Irulegi

You’ve probably heard of the Rosetta Stone, which helped decipher ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. This hand-shaped Iron Age artifact, only discovered in 2021, may offer insights into the roots of the unique language of the Basque region. It’s the earliest known writing left behind by the Vascones people, and one of the four words inscribed – 'sorioneku' – is considered a forerunner of the Basque word for 'good omen.'

2. Lady of Cerro de los Santos

Gazing upon this incredibly life-like statue feels like looking through a window onto centuries of history – but you’d have to look back pretty far, as it dates from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. It unusually depicts a mortal person rather than a deity – thought to be an aristocratic woman bringing a vase filled with wine or honey as an offering to the gods. The figure was found at the sanctuary of Cerro de los Santos near Albacete in 1870, and resides in the National Museum of Archaeology in Madrid.

1. Cave of Altamira

Few 12-year-olds have made history-altering finds, but Maria de Sautuola – daughter of amateur archaeologist Marcelino de Sautuola – can take credit for the 1879 discovery of these Stone Age paintings of bison, horses, and deer. Academics refused to believe that 'cavemen' were capable of such advanced art and initially declared them forgeries. Made between 13,000 and 15,000 years ago, the caves have been called 'the Sistine Chapel of prehistoric art.'

Now read about France's most important archaeological finds

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