Researchers found a 650-year-old sandal and over 200 human artefacts in bearded vulture nests across southern Spain, preserved naturally in cliff-side nests during excavations between 2008 and 2014.

These findings provide crucial insights for conservation efforts of the endangered bearded vulture, now extinct in southern Spain with only 309 breeding pairs left in Europe, while offering valuable archaeological data about medieval Mediterranean life. The nests function as “natural museums”.