Spain: Underwater Exploration on a Narrow Continental Shelf 13 Pablo Arias Abstract 13.1 Introduction1 In spite of Spain’s long coastline (nearly 8000 km) and its well-established tradition Occupying roughly five sixths of a large penin- in underwater archaeology, the prehistoric sula, Spain has a long coastline of some 7905 km. settlement of the continental shelf is practi- This includes Atlantic and Mediterranean-facing cally unknown with very few finds. shores—1075 km in the Bay of Biscay, 1761 km Underwater research has focused on naval facing the Atlantic Ocean and 2058 km along the archaeology and, until very recently, no Mediterranean Sea, plus 1428 km in the Balearic attempt had been made to look for prehis- Islands and 1583 km in the Canary Islands. toric underwater sites. In the past decade, Moreover, some of the most fertile regions and new research projects have been launched to largest concentrations of population are in coastal explore selected areas on the Cantabrian regions, so Spain can be defined as a maritime shelf and offshore of Gibraltar. This chapter country. From another point of view, the Iberian summarises the currently available evidence Peninsula, located at a geographic crossroads of of submerged prehistoric archaeology and Europe, was densely populated throughout pre- the preliminary results of these new history and possesses some of the most important projects. Palaeolithic sites in Europe, notably the caves of northern and south-eastern Spain and Gibraltar, a Keywords very high density of Mesolithic coastal sites and Continental shelf · Submerged landscapes · important cultures of the Neolithic, Bronze and Neanderthal · Mousterian · Upper Palaeolithic Iron Ages. This suggests considerable potential · Mesolithic · Neolithic · Bronze Age · Votive for research on the prehistoric settlement of the deposits continental shelf. As a largely coastal country, it is not surpris- ing that Spain enjoys a rich tradition in the field 1 The Iberian Peninsula comprises the sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra and the British Overseas P. Arias (*) Territory of Gibraltar. In terms of its Stone Age prehistory, Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones it forms a single geographical entity. For convenience, the Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria- evidence from Portugal is considered separately in Gobierno de Cantabria-Santander, Santander, Spain Chapter 14, and that from Gibraltar is included in this e-mail: [email protected] chapter. © The Author(s) 2020 281 G. Bailey et al. (eds.), The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes, Coastal Research Library 35, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37367-2_13 282 P. Arias Fig. 13.1 Location of sites and research projects mentioned in the text. Site information from the SPLASHCOS Viewer http://splashcos-viewer.eu. Drawing by Moritz Mennenga of underwater archaeology (Blánquez and Subacuática-ARQUA) in Cartagena. There is a Martínez Maganto 1993; Nieto 2009; Nieto and small but significant number of underwater Bethencourt 2014). This has focused on naval finds ranging from the Palaeolithic to the history, with hundreds of shipwrecks and other Bronze Age, mostly discovered by chance remains of trade and warfare from the (Fig. 13.1), and recent projects dedicated to Phoenician, Greek and Roman periods and underwater survey of the continental shelf, from the Modern Age, when the Spanish Crown which suggests considerable potential for future became one of the world’s main naval powers, discoveries. This chapter summarises data on all of which are well represented in the recently known prehistoric underwater sites, the results refurbished National Underwater Archaeology of recent offshore surveys and the potential for Museum (Museo Nacional de Arqueología future research. 13 Spain: Underwater Exploration on a Narrow Continental Shelf 283 13.2 Conditions of Preservation material is the fact that the Spanish continental and Discovery shelf is quite narrow (Fig. 13.1); apart from Galicia in the north-west and sections of the One of the deterrents to underwater investigation Mediterranean coast, relatively little territory has on many coastlines, especially those in the Bay of been submerged by postglacial sea-level rise, Biscay associated with the large concentrations especially in comparison with northern Europe, of Palaeolithic sites in the Cantabrian region, is weakening the incentive to conduct underwater that sea conditions are challenging for underwater investigation on the assumption that it would archaeological exploration and potentially unfa- make little difference to current understandings vourable for the preservation of prehistoric of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic patterns of settle- remains, due to strong currents, large waves and ment and adaptation. a predominance of erosional processes over sedi- This is counterbalanced by a series of positive mentation (Moura et al. 2017). Moreover, admin- factors. In the first place, on many coastlines, istrative responsibility for the continental shelf is there is a high density of Palaeolithic and divided between a number of regional and central Mesolithic sites. This is especially true of government agencies, leading to considerable Cantabrian Spain, which displays the highest con- bureaucratic complexities in the organisation of centration of coastal Palaeolithic sites in Europe underwater work aimed at the search for sub- (Straus 1992, 2018; Fano 2004). The density of merged landscapes, and these can act as a further Mesolithic sites is even higher: in eastern Asturias, disincentive. Although Spain is not formally a around 130 sites have been recorded along only federal state, the regions (autonomous communi- 50 km of coast (see Fano 2004, Arias and Fano ties) hold considerable legislative and adminis- 2009). On the other hand, the continental shelf is trative power in numerous fields. One of them is particularly narrow, averaging 15 km, so the culture, and particularly archaeology, which has hypothesis can be proposed that the recorded been fully devolved to the regions (Martínez Díaz Palaeolithic sites on land are just a part of a larger 1992, 1993). However, the management of the coastal settlement system which is not too exten- continental shelf is the exclusive responsibility of sive to be explored efficiently but which may the central government. This duality causes con- include important evidence of sites and activities siderable bureaucracy and also hinders the ratio- that are not represented on land in the present-day nal planning of research and protection of the coastal region. In fact, there is indirect evidence heritage, as conflicts of authority and demarca- showing that Palaeolithic groups in Cantabrian tion disputes between the different administra- Spain and elsewhere maintained regular contact tions can easily occur.2 In fact, despite a few with the sea. Even at the maximum lowering of attempts (directed mainly towards naval archae- sea level at the Last Glacial Maximum, the shore- ology), a national management plan for underwa- line was within quite easy reach of coastal caves ter archaeology has still not been devised. that are on or close to the present-day coastline. Another factor that has to some extent deterred Some of these coastal caves have stratified depos- interest and investigation in offshore prehistoric its with cultural material that reach back to the time of the Last Glacial Maximum or earlier, and it is clear from the faunal remains in these earlier 2 As an example, the P5 Cant Project, described below, deposits that the now submerged plain was a very required permission from three state organisations significant area of lowland territory for the large (Harbour Master’s Office, Port of Santander and Civil Guard), two regional government organisations mammals that formed an important part of the (Directorate General of Culture and Directorate General Palaeolithic subsistence economy and an impor- of Fishing and Food), a hospital (belonging to another tant part of the territory used by the occupants of department of the regional government) because of safety these cave sites. regulations associated with diving and the Santander Town Corporation (for permission to place a geolocation The submerged coastline was also a source of aerial on land). marine foods and close enough to the present-day 284 P. Arias shoreline that some of these resources were which fill the mouths of small caves and are strat- brought back to caves on the modern coast for ified above deposits with Palaeolithic cultural processing and consumption. Mollusc shells, in remains (González Morales 1982). However, that particular, are present in these Palaeolithic depos- may simply reflect the greater distance between its, and sometimes quantities of fish bone, for these sites and the contemporaneous palaeo- example, at La Riera Cave in Asturias (Straus and shorelines of the Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic Clark 1986), Nerja and Bajondillo in Andalusia period and the likelihood that only a portion of (Morales et al. 1998; Cortés-Sánchez et al. 2008, the marine catch was carried inland while the rest 2011) and Gorham’s Cave and Vanguard Cave on was processed and consumed closer to the coast- the Gibraltar Peninsula (Finlayson et al. 2006; line and left its archaeological mark on sites that Stringer et al. 2008). Occasionally, remains of are now submerged (Bailey and Craighead 2003). marine mammals such as seals or cetaceans are Other evidence of contact with the coast dur- also recorded