This Phoenician settlement dates back to the late 8th century BCE. It seems to have been located in a bay and featured a harbour sheltered within the mouth of the Vélez River. The most outstanding building of the excavated architecture was carefully constructed in the centre, featuring three naves and two levels. Being used as a warehouse for goods, it may have also served as an administrative centre or even a temple.

In 2008, Toscanos was declared a Heritage Site of Cultural Interest.

These archaeological remains were investigated by the German Archaeological Institute of Madrid in the mid-sixties. At first, it was believed that the Greek city of Mainake could be located in this place, according to the assumptions of the German Hispanist Adolf Schulten, who had already conducted several studies in the Cerro del Peñón in the forties.

Although his assumptions were later proved wrong, his excavations documented the first Phoenician colony in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.