We have to go back to 1979 to pinpoint the date when the Cueva del Camino was discovered in the Madrid municipality of Pinilla del Valle—just about 80 km from the capital—the first of the seven sites at Calvero de la Higuera that make up the Valley of the Neanderthals. This complex has once again resumed its public tour program.
The significance of these archaeopaleontological sites can be understood through their chronological scope: they span from the Middle Pleistocene to the middle of the Upper Pleistocene (between 300,000 and 40,000 years ago).
Thanks to this, we can learn, for example, which animals, plants, and humans have lived in the valley throughout this entire period, and what their way of life was like.
With each excavation and new discovery, the project—led since 2002 by Enrique Baquedano, Juan Luis Arsuaga, and Alfredo Pérez-González—is shedding light on our ancestors and their ways of life: one of the latest findings, reported in the prestigious scientific journal *Nature Human Behavior*, has confirmed the symbolic capacity of Neanderthals with the discovery of a hunting sanctuary.
Visiting Hours and Admission Prices
Tours of the Valley of the Neanderthals, which last approximately two hours, are offered Tuesday through Sunday at the following times: 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3:45 p.m. (except on Sundays and holidays, when the 3:45 p.m. tour is canceled).
Visits are available from April 1 through November 30, with a summer hiatus in between: the site is closed to the public from August 15 through September 15, as that is when excavation work takes place at the site.
As for tickets, you can request as many as you like through the Valley of the Neanderthals website, and the following rates apply—which must be paid to the guide in cash:
- Adults: 2 €.
- Children ages 8–12: 1 €.
- Children 7 and under: free admission.