Archaeological Wonderland: Unearthing Orce’s Ancient Secrets Through Fossils

Ancient hominin fossils lie beneath the sandy soils on the outskirts of this village in southern Spain.

Located on the high plateau of Granada in southern Spain, the village of Orce is known for its semi-arid landscapes where residents traditionally depend on groundwater for cultivating crops and raising livestock. Many still do, but in 1976 a farmer east of town unearthed some unusual fossilized bones in a field near the Rio Orce that helped turn the town into a hub for archaeological research.