A small outcrop with big surprises
La Cabroa or Cabrua is a small outcrop that is located on the southern slope of Montsec de Meià and is part of the so-called Cinglo de la Cabroa.
The outcrop is located in one of the most complicated steps on the way up from Santa Maria de Meià, passing near the hermitage of Sant Sebastià, in the direction of the Reguer spring. The outcrop is located at an altitude of about 1,200 metres.
The discovery
In 1953 Bataller made the first mention of this site as a possible site when he wondered how La Pedrera was exploited when there was an outcrop with limestone slabs near Santa Maria de Meià.
It is to be assumed that during the extraction work in La Pedrera, workers and foremen would have noticed this area since the path from Santa Maria to La Pedrera and back passes through this point. Possibly, the small extension of the site, the large amount of wall that extends over this passage and the fact that many layers are very thin were the key factors in the continuation of the work at the Rúbies Quarry.
Rediscovery and era of splendour
As Antoni Lacasa pointed out in 2013, the real beginning of the scientific study of the Cabroa site began in 1979 within the framework of a prospecting and excavation project at La Pedrera de Rúbies. The work team was composed of members of the Geo-Paleontology section of the Institute of Ilerdencs Studies and the “Friends of Paleontology”.
Personnel from the Paleobotany laboratory of the University of Lyon also participated with this team. To get to the old quarry the team went up the track that leaves Santa Maria, but the state of the track made the vehicles stop right at the point where the lithographic limestone appears. Once the presence of fossils was verified, it was decided to establish the base camp and excavation campaigns were carried out for 15 years.