El Mirón is a large cave near Ramales de la Victoria in the Cantabrian Cordillera, roughly equidistant between the cities of Santander and Bilbao, about 20 km from the present shore at the mouth of the Asón River. Its coordinates are 43°14′48″ N × 3°27′5″ W × 260 m a.s.l. It is surrounded by mountains ≥1,000 m a.s.l. and, facing due west, dominates the upper valley of the Asón at a strategic crossroads of natural routes linking the Cantabrian coast with the Castilian meseta (N-S) and the Basque Country with Cantabria and Asturias (E-W). Discovered scientifically in 1903 by H. Alcalde del Río and L. Sierra, it was never systematically excavated until the present authors began their research in 1996 (e.g., Courty and Vallverdú, 2001; Straus et al., 2001; Cuenca-Bescós et al., 2009; González Morales and Straus, 2009; Straus et al., 2011; Straus and González Morales, 2012; Straus et al., 2014a; Straus et al., 2014b). The main excavations are in the spacious cave vestibule (30 m deep ×...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Courty, M.-A., and Vallverdú, J., 2001. The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean. Geoarchaeology, 16(5), 467–499.
Cuenca-Bescós, G., Straus, L. G., González Morales, M. R., and García, J. C., 2009. The reconstruction of past environments through small mammals: from the Mousterian to the Bronze Age in El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(4), 947–955.
González Morales, M. R., and Straus, L. G., 2009. Extraordinary early Magdalenian finds from El mirón cave, Cantabria (Spain). Antiquity, 83(320), 267–281.
Straus, L. G., and González Morales, M. R., 2012. El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain: The Site and its Holocene Archaeological Record. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
Straus, L. G., González Morales, M. R., Farrand, W. R., and Hubbard, W. J., 2001. Sedimentological and stratigraphic observations in El Mirón, a late quaternary cave site in the Cantabrian Cordillera, northern Spain. Geoarchaeology, 16(5), 603–630.
Straus, L. G., González Morales, M. R., and Carretero, J. M., 2011. Lower Magdalenian secondary human burial in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, Spain. Antiquity, 85(330), 1151–1164.
Straus, L. G., González Morales, M. R., Marín, A. B., and Iriarte, M. J., 2014a. The human occupations of El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain) during the Last Glacial Maximum/Solutrean period. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Serie I, Nueva Epoca, Prehistoria y Arqueología, 5, 413–426.
Straus, L. G., González Morales, M. R., and Fontes, L. M., 2014b. Initial Magdalenian artifact assemblages in El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain): a preliminary report. Zephyrus, 73, 45–65.
Straus, L.G., Gonzalez Morales, M. R., and Carretero, J. M., eds., 2015. The Red Lady of El Miron Cave: Lower Magdalenian Human Burial in Cantabrian Spain. Special issue of Journal of Archaeological Science.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Straus, L.G., Morales, M.R.G. (2017). El Mirón Cave. In: Gilbert, A.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_79
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_79
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4827-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4409-0
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences