Prehistoric Iberia

Prehistoric Iberia is the record of human presence and societies on the Iberian Peninsula before written history, from the earliest occupations through the Iron Age.

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Atapuerca: A complex of archaeological and fossil sites in northern Spain documenting human presence across more than a million years. Its caves preserve an unusually long sequence of early human occupation in Iberia.
Paleolithic: The prehistoric period defined by stone-tool technologies, extending from the earliest tools to the spread of farming. It provides the broad framework for Iberia’s earliest hunter-gatherer societies.
Oldowan: An early stone-tool industry characterized by simple flakes and core tools, first known from Africa. Oldowan-like tools occur among the earliest evidence of human activity in Iberia.
Iberians: Ancient peoples of the eastern and southern Iberian Peninsula known from archaeology and classical texts. Their communities occupied much of the peninsula during the later Iron Age.
Prehistory: The span of human history before written records provide direct historical evidence. It defines the evidence-based boundary used to group Iberia’s unwritten past.
Cueva de Altamira: A cave in northern Spain famous for Upper Paleolithic paintings, especially its polychrome bison. Its paintings exemplify the region’s celebrated Paleolithic cave art.
Neolithic Revolution: The transition in some societies from foraging to food production, settled life, and domesticated plants and animals. Farming transformed Iberian diets, settlements, and patterns of land use.
Acheulean: A Lower Paleolithic stone-tool tradition distinguished by large cutting tools, including handaxes. Its handaxes mark a major technological tradition in early Iberian sites.
Celtiberians: Ancient peoples of central and northeastern Iberia combining Celtic and local cultural features. They show how distinct regional identities formed through interaction in Iron Age Iberia.
Protohistory: A period when a society lacks its own written records but is described by literate neighboring societies. Some late Iron Age Iberian communities enter history through Greek and Roman accounts.