First Barcelona Technical & Cave Diving Conference: BCN TEK 2013

On 18th & 19th May, the First Barcelona Technical & Cave Diving Conference will take place   focusing on cave diving explorations. 

Topics presented include :

• recent explorations at the terminal sumps of Sistema Huautla -1545m (Mexico)
• Pozo Azul (over 9km diving distance)
• Lamina'ko Ziloa (Saint Georges system resurgence in the Pyrenees)
• Fuentona de Muriel, Escuain, Cotiella, also explorations in Portugal and Bosnia, ...

Click on the image on the left for the full details about the talks.

More information can be found on the BCN TEK 2013 facebook group, subscription form can be downloaded here.

Amazing Wingsuit Jump Through Narrow Cave at 155 mph

"Wingsuit / BASE-jump athlete Alexander Polli does a tactical flight through a narrow cave on a rugged mountainside. The flight starts with a jump from a hovering helicopter, Alexander reaches speeds of 250 km/h (155 mph) while following a precise trajectory leading to the cave opening, he then fully commits and flies directly through the narrow opening of the "Batman Cave!"

Shot in full HD, this extraordinary flight exceeds the level of commitment most fliers would ever consider—there can be no attempting, the only option is success!

The narrow cave, no wider than Alexander is tall, is located in Roca Foradada Mountains in Montserrat, Spain—a location that has inspired this professional Italian Norwegian athlete's flying dream his whole life. Alexander hopes his success will inspire others not only to 'climb over their mountains,' but to also fly right through them!"

Video from: www.epictv.com

Three New Arthropod Species Have Been Found in the Maestrazgo Caves in Teruel

Pygmarrhopalites maestrazgoensis

A team of scientists from the University of Navarra and the Catalan Association of Biospeleology have discovered three new collembolan species in the Maestrazgo caves in Teruel, Spain. Their description has been published in the Zootaxa journal. These minute animals belong to one of the most ancient animal species on the planet.

The Maestrazgo caves in Teruel are located in a region of the Iberian Range where fauna has not been the subject of much study. It is a very isolated region since its average altitude is between 1,550 m and 2,000 m asl and its climate can be described as "almost extreme" experiencing temperatures of between -40°C and -25°C. Inside the caves, however, the temperatures remain constant at between 5°C and 11°C.

100,000 year old elephant remains found near Barcelona

An archaeological excavation near Barcelona has discovered an approximately 100,000 year old skeleton of a young elephant, less than 7 years old. They are the first remains of an elephant found in the Massís del Garraf, a hilly area in Greater Barcelona, and what’s more, the find is exceptional since the discovery of complete elephant skeletons in caves is rare in Catalonia. Up to now, the two back legs, the pelvis and the spine have been documented as anatomically connected, although only a small portion has been excavated from where the elephant was found, in the ‘Cova del Rinoceront (Rhinoceros’ cave), in Castelldefels. Researchers from the University of Barcelona are confident that the rest of the animal will be complete, but it won’t be found until the next archaeological dig.

In Massís del Garraf, individual parts of pachyderm, such as tusks, have already been found, especially belonging to woolly mammoth skeletons. The findings show that there were elephants in the central Catalan coastal area before the mammoths’ own arrival during the Ice Age. Therefore the recently discovered elephant remains, as well as numerous finds of Mediterranean tortoises in the same rhinoceros’ cave in Castelldefels, show that 100,000 years ago the climate of the Catalan coastal area was warmer.

The ‘Cova del Rinoceront’ is a Palaeolithic site which ranges from 200,000 to 80,000 years BC and is unique to Catalonia. At the site, there are a lot of animal remains in an excellent state of preservation, although extensive mining of the limestone has destroyed a large part of the Rhinoceros cave, such as the original entrance. The remains that have been recovered suggest that the cave was a den of carnivores, which used the cave as shelter and where they brought their prey.

The archaeological excavations at the ‘Cova del Rinoceront’ in Castelldefels are led by researchers Joan Daura and Monze Sanz, members of the Quaternary Research Group-SERP of the University of Barcelona, which is directed by Professor of Prehistory, Josep Maria Fullola. Funding comes mainly from the Castelldefels City Council and the Catalan Government’s Service of Archaeology and Palaeontology.

Source: CNA

Ebook: Spanish Cave Diving Manual

Click below for the Spanish Cave Diving Manual: "Fundamentos básicos del buceo en cuevas y grutas" by Andrès Ros, José L. Llamusi, Angel Ortego and Carmen Portilla.

Expedition Documentary: Sima GESM (-1101 m)

Sima GESM

English version of the award winning documentary by Marcus Taylor, showing the exploration of the cave system sima GESM - Sima de la Luz.

The documentary was mainly shot during the 2006 expedition and gives the live report of the discoveries from -950 m and on.

More information on this cave can be found at the dedicated page of the Spanish federation or on the website of the explorers: http://www.espeleoclubpasoslargos.com/

The documentary is split into three parts of about 12 miutes each. Click read more for the other video's.

Damaeus gevi n. sp., a new cave dweller species of oribatid mite (Acari: Oribatida: Damaeidae) from Spain with camouflage of dead oribatid bodies adhering to exuviae

A new oribatid mite of the Damaeidae family, Damaeus gevi n. sp., from a cave in southern Spain, is described in the latest edition of the "Revista ibérica de Aracnología".

It is characterized by its long legs and by the remains of other dead oribatid mites adhered on its nymphal exuviae.

Microzetes mirandus (Berlese, 1908) is among these adhered oribatid, being its first record for Spain.

 Click here for the full article (Spanish)

Giant Ibex lived in the Southern Pyrenees after the Ice Age

Reconstruction of Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica that lived 7.000
years ago (left) and a modern ibex extinct in the year 2000 (right). 
Credit: SINC / José Antonio Peñas.

The work has been published in the 'Comptes Rendus Palevol' journal

The sub-species of the Iberian mountain goat Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica became extinct in the year 2000 before its biological and phytogenetic characteristics could be explored in depth. A new study has shed light on their size, origin and post-Ice environmental conditions after discovering three skull fossils from between 4,000 and 7,000 years ago in the southwest of the Pyrenees.

In 1984 and 1994 during routine explorations the Speleological Group of Estella (Navarra) and Pedraforca (Barcelona) found the bone remains of two male and one female Ibex in the Karstic caves and wells that acted like traps in Larra (Navarra) and Millaris (Huesca). Both locations lie at 2,390 and 2,500 metres height, respectively. Up until now few fossils of this species (Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica) had been discovered in these areas.

Ricardo García-González, researcher at the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (PIE-CSIC) has been put in charge of analysing the skulls and comparing their craniometric characteristics with both fossil and modern day neighbouring mountain goat populations.

Published in the 'Comptes Rendus Palevol' journal, the results suggest that these wild goats were 50% bigger than modern Ibex that lived in the Iberian Peninsula until it became extinct from the Pyrenees in the year 2000.

Firefighter discovers Neolithic rock art at the Spanish-Portuguese border

Destiny seems obsessed with rock-art these days. Juan Carlos Jiménez, forest firefighter at Valencia de Alcántara at the Spanish-Portuguese border, in Extremadura, discovered several Neolithic rock art weeks ago at San Roque pass and other mountain locations (Sierras of San Pedro and Santa Catalina).

Archaeological experts from the regional government estimate the age of these paintings on 3500 to 2250 years BCE.

Examples of the findings:

Source: Radio Interior.es via Terrae Antiqvae

Clottes questions the dates of Iberian rock art

Red dots from El Castillo, one of which is
claimed to be older than 40,000 years

Highly respected archaeologist and prehistorian Jean Clottes has raised a question mark on the AMD datings of the Iberian rock art, recently claimed to be older than 40,000 years in some cases. He essentially questions the method of dating, frontally clashing with JoãoZilhão, who in the press conference defended the high reliability of the Uranium series method, which he says has not yet been fully demonstrated in its efficiency.

Another highly reputed expert questioning the dating is Hellene Valladas, who dated Grotte Chauvet.

Sources: Pileta, Bradshaw Foundation, Bloomberg.

Largest group of fossil humans are Neanderthals after all

Fossil skull from Sima de los Huesos in Spain has
many Neanderthal features.

The world's largest known sample of fossil humans has been classified as the species Homo heidelbergensis but in fact are early Neanderthals, according to a study by Prof Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum.

This puts the species Homo heidelbergensis back at the heart of human evolution as the last common ancestor that we, Homo sapiens, shared with Neanderthals, Homo neanderthalensis, says Stringer, the Museum's Research Leader in Human Origins.

The Status of Homo heidelbergensis study, which was published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology this week, reviews the fossil and DNA evidence for the existence of heidelbergensis and its place in the human family tree.

Central to the discussion is the important site of La Sima de los Huesos (meaning 'Pit of the bones'), in Atapuerca, northern Spain. It has yielded more than 6,000 fossils from about 28 individuals.

They had been identified as H. heidelbergensis by the team who originally discovered the fossils, and have been estimated to be about 600,000 years old. For some palaeontologists, such as Stringer, this has confused ideas about where heidelbergensis sits in the human family tree.

Briton says Spanish researchers are out by 200,000 years and have even got the wrong species

A skull from one of the bodies found in a pit in Spain.
Photograph: Paul Hanna

It is the world's biggest haul of human fossils and the most important palaeontology site in Europe: a subterranean chamber at the bottom of a 50ft shaft in the deepest recesses of the Atapuerca cavern in northern Spain. Dozens of ancient skeletons have been unearthed.

La Sima de los Huesos - the Pit of Bones - has been designated a Unesco world heritage site because of its importance to understanding evolution, and millions of euros, donated by the EU, have been spent constructing a museum of human antiquity in nearby Burgos.

But Britain's leading expert on human evolution, Professor Chris Stringer, of the Natural History Museum, has warned in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology that the team in charge of La Sima has got the ages of its fossils wrong by 200,000 years and has incorrectly identified the species of ancient humans found there.

Far from being a 600,000-year-old lair of a species called Homo heidelbergensis, he believes the pit is filled with Neanderthal remains that are no more than 400,000 years old. The difference in interpretation has crucial implications for understanding human evolution.

Homo heidelbergensis was only slightly taller than the Neanderthal

The reconstruction of 27 complete human limb bones found in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) has helped to determine the height of various species of the Pleistocene era. Homo heilderbergensis, like Neanderthals, were similar in height to the current population of the Mediterranean.

Along with its enormous quantity of fossils, one of the most important features of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in Atapuerca, Burgos, is the splendid state of the findings. They are so well conserved that the 27 complete bones from some 500,000 years ago have been reconstructed.

"The incredible collection allows us to estimate the height of species such as Homo heidelbergensis, who inhabited Europe during the Middle Pleistocene era and is the ancestor of the Neanderthal. Such estimations are based solely on analysis of the large complete bones, like those from the arm and the leg," as explained to SINC by José Miguel Carretero Díaz, researcher at the Laboratory of Human Evolution of the University of Burgos and lead author of the study that has been published in the 'Journal of Human Evolution' journal.

In addition, since bones were complete, the researchers were able to determine whether they belonged to a male or female and thus calculate the height of both men and women. "Estimations to date were based on incomplete bone samples, the length of which had to be estimated too. We also used to use formulas based on just one reference population and we were not even sure as to its appropriateness," outlines the researcher.

International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012

Dear caving friends,

The Euro Forum Speleo "Marbella 2011", organized by our federation, was very theoretical and very "sporting".

Now we want to invite you to participate in a speleological exploration and surveying camp in the province of Almeria: "International Cave-Survey Camp Topo Sorbas 2012"

This is one of the most singular places of Andalusia with a unique caves and one of the world famous gypsum karst by its singularity.

We want that everything works out the best and it is why we ask you to confirm us your intention to participate and, if possible, the number of people interested. At the moment is just an approximation to know what resources we have to mobilize. I remind you that this is an exploration and topography camp in gypsum caves.

Best regards
José A. Berrocal Pérez, Federación Andaluza de Espeleología

Video: The Prehistoric Cave Art Of Cantabria, Spain

Nerja caves discovery will bring more visitors, it is hoped

It is already the third most visited sight in Spain.

But the ‘academic bombshell’ that paintings at Nerja caves could be the oldest in existence is expected to take the tourist attraction to entirely new levels.

The discovery came when charcoal pigments next to the six seal images were sent to Miami and found to be 43,000 years old.

If the artwork is the same age - analysis which will be produced in 2013 - it means it was created by Neanderthals, and not Homo sapiens as was previously thought.

Nerja mayor Jose Alberto Armijo has since called for financial support, adding that the find will bring more people to Nerja and hopefully enable the town, whose visitor numbers have dwindled of late, to attract 500,000 annual visitors.

Source: The Olive Press

Espeleofilms Presents "Underground Worlds"

Female Cave Diver Dies In Motilla Cave Complex

Last sunday a 32-year-old female cave diver (Mireia Bolta Josa) died during a cave dive in the Resurgence of the Pasada Blanca, part of the Motilla cave complex, located in southwestern Spain.

Her partner discovered her lifeless body near the entrance of the cave, tried to bring her onto firm ground and alerted the 112. 

Despite first aid being administered by him until emergency crews arrived, they were not able to save her.  

We express our sincere condolences. Her memory will always live in our hearts.

Source: Plongeesout & Periodista Digital

'The oldest work of art ever': 42,000-year-old paintings of seals found in Spanish cave

Important find: These six paintings of seals were
discovered in the Nerja Caves near Malaga, Spain.
They are at least 42,000 years old and are the only
known artistic images created by Neanderthal man

The world's oldest works of art have been found in a cave on Spain's Costa del Sol, scientists believe.

Six paintings of seals are at least 42,000 years old and are the only known artistic images created by Neanderthal man, experts claim.

Professor Jose Luis Sanchidrian, from the University of Cordoba, described the discovery as 'an academic bombshell', as all previous art work has been attributed to Homo sapiens.

The paintings were found in the Nerja Caves, 35 miles east of Malaga in the southern region of Andalusia.

Spanish scientists sent organic residue found next to the paintings to Miami, where they were dated at being between 43,500 and 42,300 years old.

They hope to establish the exact age by testing parts of the paintings themselves, but their investigation has been hampered by a lack of cash.

Antonio Garrido, in charge of preserving the caves, said the paintings could revolutionise our view of Neanderthal man, who is often portrayed as being monkey-like.

Cave paintings in the Nerja Caves are much older than thought

The cave could contain the oldest cave paintings of humanity

The ex Minister for Employment under José María Aznar, Manuel Pimentel, has taken part in the TV series on the Cuatro channel, ‘Cuarto Millenio’ to talk about the paintings to be found in the Nerja Caves.

He told the audience that recent carbon dating had shown that the paintings found in the caves are much older than previously thought. The data indicates that they are more than 40,000 years old, and that would make them oldest in Europe, and they could be the oldest cave paintings of humanity.

The curator of the caves, Antonio Garrido, told Europa Press that the carbon dating research is a multi-discipline project of conservation and research which started in 2008, and is helping in the study of the extinction of Neanderthal man, and his possible living together in the cave with Homo Sapiens.

Organic matter was taken from close to the paintings in the upper galleries of the caves, known as the Sala de Cataclismo, and sent to the United States for dating, which in both cases came back at more than 40,000 years. The researchers are now trying to establish whether the remains that were dated were in the cave before it was inhabited.

The zone from Nerja to Gibraltar is considered by researchers to be the last area inhabited by Neanderthal man, before his extinction.

Source: Typically Spanish