The international research team was led by Hamza Benattia Melgarejo, a PhD student at the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Geography and History and a member of the university’s Classical and Protohistoric Archaeology Research Group.
According to a press release, the team has been conducting an excavation of the prehistoric settlement situated near the Strait of Gibraltar, encompassing approximately 2.5 acres in the vicinity of the Lau River.
Over the course of their work, the researchers unearthed evidence indicating human occupation during three distinct periods, spanning from 2200 to 600 BCE. This finding effectively challenges and revises existing historical narratives. “It tells a very different story from the one that existed for a long time,” says Benattia.