Cabezo Gordo and Sima de las Palomas: deep time above the Campo

Cabezo Gordo rises only 312 metres, but on the level Campo de Cartagena it is a landmark for fields, settlements and sailors. Its south face contains Sima de las Palomas, where a chance discovery in 1991 led to one of the most important Neanderthal excavation programmes on the Spanish Mediterranean.

Why it matters

More than 300 human bone and tooth fragments, including three unusually complete articulated skeletons, have been recovered from deposits around 50,000 years old. The hill also records later extraction of iron, magnetite, calcite and marble. Abandoned galleries became wartime refuges, mushroom-growing spaces and habitat for five bat species, making archaeology inseparable from geology and modern use.

Plan the visit

The archaeological shaft is an active research site, not an open cave. Public access is normally limited to advertised guided visits and open days with archaeologists. At other times, use authorised exterior paths and the viewpoint to understand the isolated hill, surrounding crops and Mar Menor. Other caves should also be entered only on organised visits.

• Reserve through Torre-Pacheco Tourist Info when a guided date is published.
• Do not cross excavation fences or enter mine galleries independently.
• Avoid disturbing bats with noise, lights or close photography.
• Carry water and use footwear suited to steep loose rock.

Connect the story

The Torre-Pacheco place guide explains how this protected hill interrupts, and helps interpret, the irrigated agricultural plain around it.

Sources

Written in September 2026 from the Región de Murcia's official records for Sima de las Palomas and the Cabezo Gordo protected landscape.

Excavation, wildlife and mine safety restrict access. Join only authorised visits and obey the protected-landscape rules in force.