Hominin fossils from this era are commonly classified as H. heidelbergensis, a chronospecies that stands at the transition between Homo erectus and early Neanderthals.

The Palaeolithic Acheulean culture, attributed to this and other finds in the Cave of Aroeira, is characterised by the production of Stone tools, notably the hand axe and the use of fire.

5 from the site Sima de los Huesos in Spain, the best preserved Homo heidelbergensis skull in the world.

[5] The skull was found in a cave above the source of the Rio Almonda, a tributary of the Tagus, which lies in the karst landscape of the Portuguese Estremadura Limestone Massif.

Late Palaeolithic developments of the Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures can be found in the Galeria da Cisterna and the Lapa dos Coelhos.

The second phase of excavation, from 2013 to 2015, included the well-preserved skull Aroeira 3, but the hardness of the sediment in which it was embedded lead to damage during recovery and had it to be partially reconstructed.