Atapuerca Mountains

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Atapuerca Mountains
Sierra de Atapuerca
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Atapuerca Mountains panorama
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Archaeological site icon (red).svg
Location in Spain
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Atapuerca Mountains (Castile and León)
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Atapuerca Mountains (Spain)
Locationnear Atapuerca, Ibeas de Juarros
Region Burgos, Castile and León
Coordinates 42°22′0″N3°31′20″W / 42.36667°N 3.52222°W / 42.36667; -3.52222
History
Periods Paleolithic
Associated with Homo antecessor , Homo heidelbergensis , Homo neanderthalensis
Site notes
Excavation datessince 1964
ArchaeologistsFrancisco Jordá Cerdá
Website http://www.atapuerca.org/
Official nameArchaeological Site of Atapuerca
Criteria Cultural: (iii)(v)
Reference 989
Inscription2000 (24th Session)
Area284.119 ha (702.07 acres)

The Atapuerca Mountains (Spanish : Sierra de Atapuerca) is a karstic hill formation near the village of Atapuerca in the province of Burgos (autonomous community of Castile and Leon), northern Spain.

Contents

In a still ongoing excavation campaign, rich fossil deposits and stone tool assemblages have been discovered which are attributed to the earliest known hominin residents in Western Europe. [1] This "exceptional reserve of data" has been deposited during extensive Lower Paleolithic presence, as the Atapuerca Mountains served as the preferred occupation site of Homo erectus , Homo antecessor , Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis [2] communities. The earliest specimen so far unearthed and reliably dated confirm an age between 1.2 million and 630,000 years.

The Archaeological site of Atapuerca is a World Heritage Site. Some finds are exhibited in the nearby Museum of Human Evolution, in Burgos.

Regional geography

Encompassing 284,119 hectares (702,070 acres), the Atapuerca Mountains are a mid-altitude karstic range of small foothills around 1,080 m (3,540 ft) above sea level. They are located at the north-east corner of the Douro basin, to the south of the Cantabrian Mountains that run across northern Spain, [3] and stretch alongside the Bureba corridor , a mountain pass that connects the Ebro river valley with the Mediterranean Sea and the Duero basin. This conjunction[ clarification needed ] constitutes an ecotone, which is rich in species of both ecosystems. The mountain pass was part of a causeway built by the Romans, as well as part of the pilgrimage route of Saint James; it is now traversed by the N-I and AP-1 highways. The mountains are strategically located between two major drainage divides and near the mountain pass; this location is assumed to have been a factor in the area's successful and prolonged hominid habitation. [4] [5] The archaeo-palaeontological records in Sierra de Atapuerca, inside the caves and in the open-air sites, have confirmed a continuous settlement from the Lower Pleistocene (Lower Paleolithic) to the Holocene (Bronze Age), with several species of hominids ( Homo antecessor , Homo heidelbergensis , Homo neanderthalensis y Homo sapiens ) exploiting the same territory. [6] [7] [8] According to these authors, the archaeological consequence of the continuous territorial occupation of the same area from 1.3 Ma to the Bronze Age (2100-850 cal. BC) has been the deposition of hundreds of open-air sites [9] [10] [11]

Fauna

In 2008 scholars identified a new genus and species of red-toothed shrew from the Pleistocene layers of the Gran Dolina cave. Until this discovery, researchers had believed that the fossils found in this area were of the Beremendia fissidens type, but recent research has been published to support an Asiatic type called Dolinasorex glyphodon that might be endemic and is the earliest known type of soricid in the Iberian peninsula. [12]

Archaeological site

Location of the excavation sites along a railway cutting (after the visible protective roofs): (1) Entrance to the cutting; (2) Sima del Elefante; (3) Galeria; (4) Gran Dolina Trinchera Atapuerca2.jpg
Location of the excavation sites along a railway cutting (after the visible protective roofs): (1) Entrance to the cutting; (2) Sima del Elefante; (3) Galería; (4) Gran Dolina

The archaeological site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. [13] [14]

Recorded history

Piedrahita ("standing stone") in the Atapuerca valley is according to records site of the Battle of Atapuerca, which took place in 1054 between the forces of Ferdinand I of Castile and his brother García V of Navarre.

Economic and demographic development

Apart from the typical dryland farming of the region, the municipality has grown significantly in economic, demographic and social level with the impact generated by the presence of the archaeological site and its associated services. 15% of the active population owns a job related to tourism. This "tertiarization" of their economy has reversed depopulation by growing and rejuvenating it (with the average age at 42 years). [15]

Sierra de Atapuerca.jpg
panoramic view of the Atapuerca site

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleolithic</span> Prehistoric period, first part of the Stone Age

The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic, also called the Old Stone Age, is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins, c. 3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene, c. 11,650 cal BP.

<i>Homo heidelbergensis</i> Extinct species of archaic human

Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of H. erectus in 1950 as H. e. heidelbergensis, but towards the end of the century, it was more widely classified as its own species. It is debated whether or not to constrain H. heidelbergensis to only Europe or to also include African and Asian specimens, and this is further confounded by the type specimen being a jawbone, because jawbones feature few diagnostic traits and are generally missing among Middle Pleistocene specimens. Thus, it is debated if some of these specimens could be split off into their own species or a subspecies of H. erectus. Because the classification is so disputed, the Middle Pleistocene is often called the "muddle in the middle".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mousterian</span> European Middle Paleolithic culture

The Mousterian is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latter part of the Middle Paleolithic, the middle of the West Eurasian Old Stone Age. It lasted roughly from 160,000 to 40,000 BP. If its predecessor, known as Levallois or Levallois-Mousterian, is included, the range is extended to as early as c. 300,000–200,000 BP. The main following period is the Aurignacian of Homo sapiens.

<i>Homo antecessor</i> Archaic human species from 1 million years ago

Homo antecessor is an extinct species of archaic human recorded in the Spanish Sierra de Atapuerca, a productive archaeological site, from 1.2 to 0.8 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene. Populations of this species may have been present elsewhere in Western Europe, and were among the first to colonise that region of the world, hence the name. The first fossils were found in the Gran Dolina cave in 1994, and the species was formally described in 1997 as the last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals, supplanting the more conventional H. heidelbergensis in this position. H. antecessor has since been reinterpreted as an offshoot from the modern human line, although probably one branching off just before the modern human/Neanderthal split.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Europe</span>

Prehistoric Europe refers to Europe before the start of written records, beginning in the Lower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional unevenness in cultural development emerges and grows. The region of the eastern Mediterranean is, due to its geographic proximity, greatly influenced and inspired by the classical Middle Eastern civilizations, and adopts and develops the earliest systems of communal organization and writing. The Histories of Herodotus is the oldest known European text that seeks to systematically record traditions, public affairs and notable events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceprano Man</span> Prehistoric human skull cap from Italy

Ceprano Man, Argil, and Ceprano Calvarium, is a Middle Pleistocene archaic human fossil, a single skull cap (calvarium), accidentally unearthed in a highway construction project in 1994 near Ceprano in the Province of Frosinone, Italy. It was initially considered Homo cepranensis, Homo erectus, or possibly Homo antecessor; but in recent studies, most regard it either as a form of Homo heidelbergensis sharing affinities with African forms, or an early morph of Neanderthal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinheim skull</span> Hominin fossil

The Steinheim skull is a fossilized skull of a Homo neanderthalensis or Homo heidelbergensis found on 24 July 1933 near Steinheim an der Murr, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaic humans</span> Extinct relatives of modern humans

Archaic humans is a broad category denoting all species of the genus Homo that are not Homo sapiens. Among the earliest related remains are those from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, Florisbad in South Africa (259 ka), and Omo-Kibish I in southern Ethiopia. The term typically includes H. antecessor (1200–770 ka), H. bodoensis (1200–300 ka), H. heidelbergensis (600–200 ka), Neanderthals, H. rhodesiensis (300–125 ka) and Denisovans,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Iberia</span>

Prehistory in the Iberian peninsula begins with the arrival of the first Homo genus representatives from Africa, which may range from c. 1.5 million years (Ma) ago to c. 1.25 Ma ago, depending on the dating technique employed, so it is set at c. 1.3 Ma ago for convenience. The end of Iberian prehistory coincides with the first entrance of the Roman army into the peninsula, in 218 before Christ (BC), which led to the progressive dissolution of pre-Roman peoples in Roman culture. This end date is also conventional, since pre-Roman writing systems can be traced to as early as 5th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudald Carbonell</span> Spanish archaeologist, anthropologist and paleontologist

Eudald Carbonell i Roura is a Spanish archaeologist, anthropologist and paleontologist.

Paleolithic Europe, or Old Stone Age Europe, encompasses the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age in Europe from the arrival of the first archaic humans, about 1.4 million years ago until the beginning of the Mesolithic around 10,000 years ago. This period thus covers over 99% of the total human presence on the European continent. The early arrival and disappearance of Homo erectus and Homo heidelbergensis, the appearance, complete evolution and eventual demise of Homo neanderthalensis and the immigration and successful settlement of Homo sapiens all have taken place during the European Paleolithic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miguelón</span> Hominin fossil

Miguelón is the popular nickname for a human skull, classified as either late Homo heidelbergensis or as early Homo neanderthalensis. It has been estimated to date to 430,000 years ago. It is one of more than 5,500 fossils belonging to early human populations which have been found in the Sima de los Huesos site in the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain.

Hominid dispersals in Europe refers to the colonisation of the European continent by various species of hominid, including hominins and archaic and modern humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Museum of Human Evolution</span> Museum in Burgos, Spain

The Museum of Human Evolution is situated on the south bank of the river Arlanzón, in the Spanish city of Burgos. It is located roughly 16 kilometers west of the Sierra de Atapuerca, the location of some of the most important human fossil finds in the world. In addition, the Archaeological site of Atapuerca, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000, has yielded some of the exhibits at the museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tautavel Man</span> Homo erectus fossil

Tautavel Man refers to the archaic humans which—from approximately 550,000 to 400,000 years ago—inhabited the Caune de l’Arago, a limestone cave in Tautavel, France. They are generally grouped as part of a long and highly variable lineage of transitional morphs which inhabited the Middle Pleistocene of Europe, and would eventually evolve into the Neanderthals. They have been variably assigned to either H. (s.?) heidelbergensis, or as a European subspecies of H. erectus as H. e. tautavelensis. The skull is reconstructed based on the specimens Arago 21 and 47, and it is, to a degree, more characteristic of what might be considered a typical H. erectus morphology than a typical H. heidelbergensis morphology. The brain capacity is 1,166 cc. They seem to have had an overall robust skeleton. Average height may have been 166 cm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petralona skull</span> Hominid skull found in Greece in 1960

The Petralona skull is the skull of a hominid found in Petralona Cave, about 35 km (22 mi) south-east of Thessaloniki city on the Chalkidiki peninsula, Greece. According to Aris Poulianos, head of the excavation team since 1965, it was found by a villager, Christos Sariannidis, in 1960. It was sticking to the cave wall in a small cavern of the cave, called "Layer 10" by Poulianos, about 30 cm (12 in) above ground, held by sinter. Its lower jaw is missing and it was "encrusted by brown calcite soon after the death of the individual".

Ursus dolinensis is an extinct mammalian carnivore species of the Ursidae family. Its fossilized remains were unearthed from the lowest layers of the stratigraphic sequence at the archaeological and paleontological site of Gran Dolina, that is a part of the Atapuerca Mountains complex in the Burgos province, northern Spain. The species was described by Nuria Garcia and Juan Luis Arsuaga in a 2001 publication. Skeletal fossils, mainly cranial fragments were recovered from the sediment units TD 3 and in particular TD 4. Presence in these layers suggests a chronology in between 900,000 and 780,000 years ago, which falls into the Calabrian stage of the early Pleistocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aroeira 3</span> Hominin fossil

Aroeira 3 is a 400,000 year old Homo heidelbergensis hominid skull which was discovered in the Aroeira cave, Portugal. It is the earliest human trace in Portugal. H. heidelbergensis existed at the transition between Homo erectus and early Neanderthals and used both stone tools and fire. The skull was damaged during the 2014 excavation but was restored in the following two years. In 2017 the description of the skull was published in PNAS. It is on display in the National Archaeology Museum (Lisbon).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeological site of Atapuerca</span> Archaeological site in northern Spain, rich in human fossils

The archaeological site of Atapuerca is located in the province of Burgos in the north of Spain and is notable for its evidence of early human occupation. Bone fragments from around 800,000 years ago, found in its Gran Dolina cavern, provide the oldest known evidence of hominid settlement in Western Europe and of hominid cannibalism anywhere in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleolithic Iberia</span>

Paleolithic in the Iberian peninsula is the longest period of its prehistory, starting c. 1.3 million of years (Ma) ago and ending almost at the same time as Pleistocene, first epoch of Quaternary, c. 11.500 years or 11.5 ka ago. It was a period characterized by climate oscillations between ice ages and small interglacials, producing heavy changes in Iberia's orography. Cultural change within the period is usually described in terms of lithic industry evolution, as described by Grahame Clark.

References

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  2. Callaway, Ewen (2016). "Oldest ancient-human DNA details dawn of Neanderthals". Nature. 531 (7594): 286. Bibcode:2016Natur.531..296C. doi: 10.1038/531286a . PMID   26983523. S2CID   4459329.
  3. Arsuaga, Juan (2009). The Neanderthal's Necklace: In Search of the First Thinkers. Basic Books. ISBN   9780786740734.
  4. ". Geographic setting of the Sierra de Atapuerca and map of the... - Figure 1 of 14" . Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  5. "No. 2516: Atapuerca". Uh.edu. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  6. Marcos Saiz (2006), pp. 225–270.
  7. Marcos Saiz (2016), pp. 686–696.
  8. Marcos Saiz & Díez (2017), pp. 45–67.
  9. Marcos Saiz, F. Javier (2006). La Sierra de Atapuerca y el Valle del Arlanzón. Patrones de asentamiento prehistóricos. Editorial Dossoles. Burgos, Spain. ISBN   9788496606289.
  10. Marcos Saiz, F. Javier (2016). La Prehistoria Reciente del entorno de la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, España). British Archaeological Reports (Oxford, U.K.), BAR International Series 2798. ISBN   9781407315195.
  11. Marcos Saiz, F.J.; Díez, J.C. (2017). "The Holocene archaeological research around Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) and its projection in a GIS geospatial database". Quaternary International. 433 (A): 45–67. Bibcode:2017QuInt.433...45M. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.002.
  12. Rofes, J.; Cuenca-Bescós, G. (2009). "A new genus of red-toothed shrew (Mammalia, Soricidae) from the Early Pleistocene of Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain), and a phylogenetic approach to the Eurasiatic Soricinae". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 155 (4): 904–925. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00470.x .
  13. "Archaeological Site of Atapuerca - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  14. "Landforms And Geomorphological Processes In The Duero Basin. Pleistocene Geoarcheology Of Ambrona And Atapuerca Sites" (PDF). Geomorfologia.es. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  15. "Creation of economic and demographic development [Social Impact]. ATAPUERCA project". SIOR. Social Impact Open Repository. Archived from the original on 2017-09-05. Retrieved 2017-09-05.