Lagrimal Cave: vestiges of the Mesolithic in Sierra de Salinas

The oldest remains found in this cave go back to 5000 BC.

The curious Lagrimal cave is located at an altitude of 1000 meters, on the boundary between the municipalities of Yecla (Murcia Region) and Villena (Alicante) and on the western slope of the Salinas mountain, which constitutes an important natural area of the Alto Vinalopó region. The cave owes its name to dripping, inside, caused by water. This cavity was used at different times by several human groups, at least from the Mesolithic period (5000 years BC), from whose time were found flint tools that hunters and collectors must have used. Among other vestiges, ceramics dating from the Neolithic period (4300 BC), a metal punch from the Copper Age (2000 BC) and medieval ceramic remains dated to the ninth and tenth centuries were also found. These data is currently known thanks to the excavation carried out by the archaeologist from Villena José María Soler, in 1956.