The site is a shelter/cave that opens onto the El Cotet de Muro ravine. It has now been reduced to a small cave formed by two diaclases which were later affected by various karstic processes. Originally it was a large shelter, as evidenced by the remains of the visor and the blocks that had fallen around it.
The Cova Beneito was discovered by E. Cortell in the 1970s. Ordinary archaeological excavation campaigns were carried out continuously from 1980 to 1990, under the scientific direction of Guillermo Iturbe. The field work was resumed in 1993 and 1994, interrupted by safety problems inside the cave until 1999, when Muro Town Council took over the project under the scientific direction of Elisa Doménech. In 2001 a survey was opened outside the shelter to check the actual extent of the area occupied. The results showed the existence of an important area of occupation. Excavations and research continue year after year thanks to the contributions of a large interdisciplinary team made up of archaeologists, geologists, palaeontologists and collaborators.
For more than twenty years, the various interdisciplinary studies have contributed to the reconstruction of the modus vivendi of Neanderthal and modern man. The different pollen taxa show changes in the landscape around the cave; zooarchaeological analyses show the existence of wooded areas occupied by herds of deer or valleys with grazing horses.
The disappearance of the Neanderthals is still a subject of debate in the scientific field, in which the results that can be obtained in the Beneito Cave play an important role. The unique nature of its chronological and cultural sequence throughout the Levant and the south of Spain makes the site a point of reference in all scientific and informative work.
The dissemination of the work carried out in the Cova Beneito can be summarised in three territorial areas:
Dissemination in the regional area. Since 1982, with the publication of the preliminary results of the internal survey in the journal of the Archaeology Laboratory of the University of Valencia to the scientific dissemination of interdisciplinary research in various journals, conferences, symposia, etc.
Dissemination at national level. Throughout Spain, the Cova Beneito is frequently cited in articles and monographs as a reference point for the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic period.
Dissemination in the international sphere. From 1996, as a consequence of the repercussion of the preliminary studies provided, the site began to interest international forums (Forli – Italy, Liège – Belgium, etc), as well as being visited by prestigious researchers.