The deposit being explored by a team from the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country contains at least 40 species and reflects the fauna in the area during the Upper Pleistocene
The site was discovered in 2012 by quarry workers after carrying out a blasting operation. When they spotted the presence of a great many fossil remains in the clay that filled the cave, they halted the works and contacted Prof Alvaro Arrizabalaga of the Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology. After confirming the importance of the site, Alvaro Arrizabalaga and Maria Jose Iriarte decided in 2013 to carry out an emergency excavation in collaboration with the company exploiting the quarry to retrieve the bone remains in the context at the site named Artazu VII.
