Portal de Jumilla
www.portaldejumilla.com
The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Pedro Alberto Cruz, opened today, with the mayor of Jumilla, Francisco Abellán, and the director of the Museum of Natural History and Ethnography, Cayetano Herrera, the paleontological site of footprints of mammals in Sierra de las Cabras Jumilla.
It is, in the words of counsel, a reservoir "exceptional" by both the number of footprints and fossil footprints have been found, a total of 225, for the "diversity of animals that passed through these places and make This paleoenvironment one of the most diverse found. "
With this site, Jumilla "becomes the epicenter nationally in deposits of fossil footprints," noted Cruz.
In addition, the site, said the adviser, "is to join a network, an entire map also exceptional from the standpoint of paleontological and archaeological heritage, which is turning to the Region of Murcia at the forefront of the recovery of our heritage" .
Cruz also said that the site "has some incredible development potential."
Thus, this inauguration is "only the first step" because the objective of the Ministry is "to turn spaces like this in place of access and tourism boosters absolutely sustainable environmentally and heritage."
The site was discovered in 2007 by geologist Emilio Herrero, and their footprints, added to those already discovered years ago in the Hoya de la Sima, is one of the most exciting paleontological sets the Iberian Peninsula.
The scarcity of such records in the Mio-Pliocene rocks Spanish gives it a unique scientific and heritage.
The presence in these rocks, microscopic fossils such as ostracods and pollen remains supports the idea of the existence of an ancient and vast lake that would cover the current valley just over five million years.
Studying the rocks, geologists attribute the site at an interval of time between the Miocene and Pliocene, ie, has an age estimated between 5.4 and 5.1 million years.
At the site we have identified a total of 225 footprints in four different layers, which allows good condition to attribute the footsteps of mammals and waterfowl, crane type.
Herbivores have preserved traces of rhino, Hyperion (small three-toed prehistoric horse similar to the modern horse), wild boar and sitatunga, also known as marsh antelope.
Among the predators found the bear and the saber-toothed tiger.
Especially interesting is the way of elongated strokes that follow the same direction and whose identification has not yet been resolved by specialists.
Projects on the site
The Directorate General of Fine Arts and Cultural addressed in early 2008, just months after its discovery, the construction of a housing to prevent deterioration of the tracks by a direct grant to the City in the amount of 27,000 euros.
Also, from the Heritage Service have collaborated in the elaboration of the texts that allow us to interpret the site.
On the other hand, completed last January conditioning works outside the site access and funded by the Directorate General of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, works that have included the fencing of the plot, design of access roads, installation a control area and parking of vehicles as well as the suitability of the area for public use: information about signs and information boards on the site, landscaping and furniture.
With these interventions is to bring, through proper use and control, the cultural and natural heritage to the public interest, using a paleontological discovery of the first order as the site of the Sierra de las Cabras.
Source: CARM
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