The high Pyrenees may appear to be one of Europe's most remote and untouched landscapes, but a major archaeological study suggests that people have been returning to these mountains for thousands of years.The Obagues de Ratera rock-shelter has been continuously occupied for 10,000 years: from the Mesolithic to the 20th century. Image Credit: GAAM-UAB
Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have assembled 124 radiocarbon dates from 45 archaeological sites within the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees. The resulting open-access database provides the most systematic published series of absolute dates yet assembled for a high-mountain area of the Pyrenees.
The evidence points to repeated human activity at elevations above 2,000 metres throughout much of the Holocene, challenging the idea that these alpine environments were largely beyond the reach of prehistoric communities.
The Discovery
The research focuses on Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, where archaeological investigations have so far identified around 380 sites.
Rather than relying on isolated discoveries, the researchers have brought together decades of fieldwork and radiocarbon measurements into a single chronological framework. The database contains laboratory reports, information about dated materials and their archaeological contexts, as well as the analytical code used by the researchers.
This approach allows archaeologists to examine human activity in the mountains across a much longer period than any individual excavation could reveal.
The earliest evidence highlighted by the study comes from the Obagues de Ratera rock shelter, situated at approximately 2,320 metres above sea level. Its first occupation dates to around 10,000 years ago.
What Archaeologists Found
The archaeological record shows that high-altitude locations were not visited just once or during a single prehistoric period.
Three excavated sites provide particularly important chronological sequences. Obagues de Ratera records activity beginning roughly 10,000 years ago, while Cova del Sardo, at 1,780 metres, has evidence dating back approximately 7,500 years. The Portarró rock shelter, at about 2,280 metres, was occupied from around 7,300 years ago.
Obagues de Ratera is especially remarkable. Its sequence extends from the Mesolithic through the transition to farming, the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, into the beginning of the Iron Age. Later activity includes the Visigothic period and continues into the 19th and 20th centuries.
At Portarró, excavations have also identified prehistoric architectural remains. Structures consisting of stone foundations and wood have been dated to approximately 5,000 years ago, making them the oldest known example of stone architecture currently identified in the Pyrenees according to the study.
Across the wider park, archaeologists have recorded shelters, possible dwellings, enclosures, walls, wells and groups of stone circles that may have served funerary purposes.
Historical Background
The findings place human activity in the Pyrenean highlands within the broader environmental changes of the Holocene.
Around 10,000 years ago, the region was emerging from the last glacial period. The researchers' evidence indicates that hunter-gatherer groups were already reaching alpine environments while remnants of small cirque glaciers remained in the landscape.
Over subsequent millennia, mountain use continued and sometimes intensified.
The study identifies particularly strong signals of human activity towards the end of the Neolithic, between approximately 5,300 and 4,500 years ago, as well as during Late Antiquity and the beginning of the medieval period.
One comparison highlighted by the researchers concerns the period associated with Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman. Around 5,300 years ago, when Ötzi crossed the Tisenjoch glacier and died, the archaeological record from Aigüestortes also indicates increased human activity above 2,000 metres.
The evidence therefore places the Pyrenean mountains within a wider pattern of prehistoric movement and activity in Europe's high-altitude environments.
Scientific Analysis
Radiocarbon dating forms the backbone of the new chronological framework.
The researchers compiled 124 carbon-14 dates from 45 sites and applied several statistical methods to identify periods in which archaeological evidence is particularly concentrated or comparatively scarce.
Importantly, the project is not based solely on newly excavated material. It represents more than two decades of research by the High Mountain Archaeology Group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and its collaborators.
Publishing the database openly also allows other researchers to examine the underlying evidence, laboratory information and analytical methods.
The chronological data can then be compared with palaeoecological records documenting environmental change in the same mountain landscapes.
This combination could help archaeologists investigate whether changes in climate, vegetation, glaciers and other environmental conditions influenced when and how people used high-altitude areas.
Why This Discovery Matters
The significance of the research extends beyond individual shelters.
For decades, high mountain environments could easily be interpreted as marginal spaces that prehistoric populations visited only occasionally. The growing archaeological record from Aigüestortes suggests a more complicated picture.
People repeatedly travelled into these environments, established temporary or longer-term activity areas and returned to particular locations across generations.
The longevity of sites such as Obagues de Ratera is especially striking. Evidence spanning approximately 10,000 years demonstrates that a single mountain shelter could remain meaningful to human communities despite enormous changes in climate, technology, economy and society.
The discoveries also broaden our understanding of prehistoric mobility. High-altitude landscapes were not simply barriers separating settled communities. They could themselves become places of work, movement, habitation and perhaps ritual activity.
With hundreds of archaeological locations now recorded within the national park, the Pyrenees are emerging as an important laboratory for studying the relationship between people and changing mountain environments.
What's Next?
The open-access database provides a foundation for further research rather than a final interpretation.
Future work can refine individual dates, expand the number of archaeological sites represented and compare human activity with increasingly detailed environmental records.
Additional excavation may also clarify the functions of the structures and shelters already identified. In particular, the prehistoric stone-and-wood architecture at Portarró could provide valuable information about how people organised activities at high elevations around 5,000 years ago.
The researchers can also use the chronological framework to investigate why human activity became more pronounced during particular periods and whether similar patterns occurred elsewhere in the Pyrenees.
Conclusion
The new research reveals that the high Pyrenees have a far deeper human history than their rugged appearance might suggest.
From hunter-gatherers visiting alpine shelters around 10,000 years ago to communities returning during the Neolithic, Bronze Age, medieval period and even modern times, the archaeological record shows repeated engagement with these demanding landscapes.
The 124 radiocarbon dates now assembled from Aigüestortes provide an important chronological framework for understanding that history. More importantly, they demonstrate that Europe's high mountains were not empty wildernesses, but landscapes repeatedly shaped by human movement and activity.
FAQ
How old is the earliest human activity identified in the study?
The earliest occupation highlighted by the research dates to approximately 10,000 years ago, at the Obagues de Ratera rock shelter.
Where was the research conducted?
The study focuses on Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park in the Spanish Pyrenees.
How many archaeological sites were analysed?
Researchers have recorded approximately 380 archaeological sites in the national park, while the new radiocarbon database contains dates from 45 sites.
How many radiocarbon dates were compiled?
The open-access database contains 124 radiocarbon dates from archaeological contexts across the study area.
What is the oldest stone architecture found in the Pyrenees?
The study identifies prehistoric structures at the Portarró rock shelter, dating to approximately 5,000 years ago, as the oldest known example of stone architecture in the Pyrenees.
Does the research show that people lived permanently in the high mountains?
Not necessarily. The evidence demonstrates repeated and long-term human activity, but the source does not establish that all of the sites were permanently occupied.
