The site of Galería contained what are called human occupation
floors: dirt layers that were once the floor of a cave where
humans carried out their activities. Each of these floors
represented a “photograph” of how the cave was left by these
humans after using it, probably during only a very brief period
of time. When they left, after for example consuming the flesh
of a dead animal, they left behind them the bare bones and the
tools used to dismember the carcasses. The remains were later
covered by mud and rock transported by water, preserving not
just the stone tools and bones, but the living space. This is
how the concept of anthropic impact was developed: a space used
by human beings for their own convenience and a layer of
sediment that preserves associated bones and stone tools that
are more or less contemporaneous. Based on the remains found at
Galería, it was believed that the humans entered the site to
scavenge from time to time and maybe to consume game hunted in
the vicinity. They didn’t stay long