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A team of archaeologists has uncovered evidence confirming that Les Coves Llongues, in the town of Zorita del Maestrazgo (Els Ports region) of Spain, was inhabited during the Early Neolithic (second half of the 6th millennium BC). The findings suggest that this site served as a crucial link between the Guadalope River (and by extension, the Ebro) and the Castelló coast, highlighting the Bergantes River as a key route for the spread of early Neolithic communities.

The research team includes members from the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, ICREA, the University of Barcelona, and the Provincial Council of Castelló.

The findings are in the journal Munibe monographs. Anthropology and Archaeology series.

Les Coves Llongues is situated near the Bergantes River, the main river in the northern Valencian Community and a tributary of the Guadalope. Until recently, this region lacked definitive evidence of the early Neolithic period. However, the site is now proving highly significant for studying the spread of the first farming communities from the Iberian Mediterranean to the Ebro Valley, as it lies along a natural corridor connecting both territories.

The research conducted so far has identified several archaeological layers spanning from the late Paleolithic to the Neolithic. At the earliest Neolithic level, researchers have recovered impressed and incised-impressed ceramics, along with other period artifacts, including projectile points. These findings underscore the site's remarkable potential, despite only six square meters having been excavated so far. Additionally, new figures have been identified among the Levantine rock art present at the site.

The rock shelter of Les Coves Llongues significantly enhances the archaeological record of a region that has been little explored but is crucial for understanding the arrival, expansion, and consolidation of the first Neolithic communities on the Iberian Peninsula. The site's repeated occupation suggests it holds a particular appeal for different human groups, whether due to its strategic position along a transit route or the unique characteristics of its environment.

Based on the data recovered so far, researchers Dídac Roman and Inés Domingo regard this discovery as crucial for understanding the expansion model of the first Neolithic populations and the routes they followed to settle in new territories.

Ongoing research aims to further refine the characteristics of the occupation at Les Coves Llongues and deepen our understanding of its connections with other significant Neolithic sites on the Iberian Peninsula. Undoubtedly, this finding establishes the region as a key focal point in the study of one of humanity's most transformative periods: the transition to the Neolithic (Neolithization).