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Fossil evidence from the Iberian Peninsula is essential for understanding Neandertal evolution and history. Since 2000, a new sample Ϸ43,000 years old has been systematically recovered at the El Sidró n cave site (Asturias, Spain). Human remains almost exclusively compose the bone assemblage. All of the skeletal parts are preserved, and there is a moderate occurrence of Middle Paleolithic stone tools. A minimum number of eight individuals are represented, and ancient mtDNA has been extracted from dental and osteological remains. Paleobiology of the El Sidró n archaic humans fits the pattern found in other Neandertal samples: a high incidence of dental hypoplasia and interproximal grooves, yet no traumatic lesions are present. Moreover, unambiguous evidence of human-induced modifications has been found on the human remains. Morphologically, the El Sidró n humans show a large number of Neandertal lineage-derived features even though certain traits place the sample at the limits of Neandertal variation. Integrating the El Sidró n human mandibles into the larger Neandertal sample reveals a north-south geographic patterning, with southern Neandertals showing broader faces with increased lower facial heights. The large El Sidró n sample therefore augments the European evolutionary lineage fossil record and supports ecogeographical variability across Neandertal populations. dental hypoplasia ͉ geographic patterning ͉ geometric morphometrics ͉ mandible ͉ Neandertal diversity

The Orce region, which is known in the literature as the Spanish Olduvai, has one of the best Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene continental paleobiological records of Europe. It is situated in the northeastern sector of the intramontane Guadix-Baza Basin (Granada, Andalusia, southern Spain). Here we describe a new fossil hominin tooth from the site of Barranco León, dated to ~1.4 Ma by a combination of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), paleomagnetic and biochronologic methods. This is, at the moment, the oldest human remain from Western Europe.

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