The earliest human remains found in Cordoba correspond to a Neanderthal dating from around 32,000 B.C.. Recent studies have revealed that later, around the third century BC, there was a settlement in the area known as the Colina de los Quemados, now the site of the Parque Cruz Conde district.

At this early stage, mining was the mainstay of the economy, as evidenced by the tools found, which date from the seventh century BC and which link the way of life in the area with mining and metallurgical activities. This circumstance meant that the settlement came into increasing contact with the different peoples who sailed up the Guadalquivir to trade, such as the Tartessians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians. These contacts must have enriched the primitive city both culturally and economically.