Yacimientos arqueológicos de la Araña, Archaeological site in La Araña, Málaga, Spain

Yacimientos arqueológicos de la Araña is an archaeological site on the eastern shore of Málaga Bay with seven excavation areas featuring caves and rock shelters, plus a visitor center. The caves hold layered deposits from multiple prehistoric periods, each revealing traces of human settlement and activity.

The site shows continuous human occupation from the Upper Pleistocene through the Neolithic, with evidence of early humans, Neanderthals, and later arriving groups. Each period left behind its own tools and remains, documenting how human life changed over tens of thousands of years.

The name comes from the surrounding landscape, and the caves reveal how early people made their homes in rock shelters overlooking the bay. Different groups returned to these same spots across thousands of years, showing how certain places held meaning for them.

Access is limited and requires advance planning, so check on current arrangements before visiting. The visitor center provides shelter from weather and explains what you will see in the caves themselves.

Cueva Navarro IV, part of the La Araña complex, was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural in 2013 as an archaeological zone. Its deposits have yielded Upper Palaeolithic stone tools and malacofauna, and the cave is noted above all for its parietal painting.