Spanish researchers have recreated this image of how the world around this Neanderthal cave they have been studying in eastern Spain would have looked during the glacial period, with a thick forest and an abundance of fruits and berries thanks to a favourable microclimate.

The artist’s impression, which contrasts with the frozen image of the glacial period usually portrayed, is based on data gathered during work on recreating the surroundings of Bolomor Cave in Valldigna Valley in the eastern Spanish province of Valencia between 100,000 and 350,000 years ago.

The research, carried out by the investigation group ECCE HOMO (Evolution, Cenozoic, Quaternary, Ecology) from the University of Murcia, led by Professor Jose Carrion, was recently published in the magazine Quaternary Science Reviews.

It breaks with the traditional belief that Neanderthals mainly lived in steppes and cold places.

Scientists said this region of the Iberian Peninsula would have been rich with dense forests and fruit-bearing trees and plants to help with their survival.

Professor Carrion told Real Press that the research was carried out after analysing fossilised pollen in the archaeological sites around Bolomor Cave where Neanderthals used to live.

The 59-year-old professor explained that micro fossils were extracted from samples taken there and found that “around 300,000 years ago, Neanderthals lived in a very different environment to now, with many species no longer in the region, and with a rich forest ecosystem”.

He added: “The research breaks with the British theory that Neanderthals used to live in steppes without many trees or vegetation, covered in snow or ice, and that they had to hunt large animals to survive.”

University of Murcia professor Juan Ochando Tomas told Real Press that experts took 50 samples from 17 different leaves and confirmed that the “forest remained unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years”.

He added that there was a lot of “hazelnut, hackberry, carob trees, chestnut trees and madrone trees”.

Due to the rich food source, Neanderthals lived in the region for many years.

In the Middle Pleistocene and Late Pleistocene eras, there were glacial and non-glacial periods and Professor Ochando said “there would have been a glacial refuge in the area, much like an oasis”.

He added: “That forest, which is located in a perpendicular way from the Mediterranean, had a microclimate that allowed these kinds of plants to keep living in that glacial period.”

Professor Carrion told Real Press that between 100,000 and 350,000 years ago there was a “period with the coldest temperatures in the planet’s history where there was a change in glacial phases taking between 70,000 and 80,000 years and interglacial periods lasting between 20,000 and 25,000 years.”

The dense forest also confirms the theory that Neanderthals’ hunting strategy used more stalking and ambushes than previous believed.

Professor Carrion said “Neanderthals used tools to hunt prey which were better in a forest” as it was more effective for short-distance hunting.

He also confirmed that “this also backs up two recent discoveries showing that Neanderthals were very good sprinters”.

The fact that this part of the Iberian Peninsula was a closed forest was a key part of the project. Carrion explained that in other parts of Europe, like in Italy or the Balkans, “we have seen Neanderthals linked to savannah vegetation, but here we have a closed dense forest with trees”.

Gabriela Amoros, 49, the palaeoartist in charge of the recreation, said that it was based on data collected from the area with “some parts of the artists’ imagination, taking into consideration the Mediterranean light and taking all the most important iconic forms of the species so that they could easily be recognised”.

The research team is still working in other sites like Gorham’s Cave in the UK, Vanguard Cave in Gibraltar, Carihuela Cave in the southern Spanish province of Granada, Sima de las Palomas in Murcia, and the cave of Guadiz-Baza, also in southern Spain.