The oldest human fossil in Europe, from Orce (Spain)

Toro-Moyano, Isidro; Martı́nez-Navarro, Bienvenido; Agustı́, Jordi; Souday, Caroline; Castro, José Marı́a Bermúdez de; Martinón‐Torres, María; Fajardo, Beatriz; Duval, Mathieu; Falguères, Christophe; Oms, Oriol; Parés, Josep M.; Anadón, Pere; Julià, Ramón; García-Aguilar, José Manuel; Moigne, Anne‐Marie; Espigares, M. Patrocinio; Ros-Montoya, Sergio; Palmqvist, Paul

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.01.012

Cited by 254 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Published scenarios include claims for a very early occupation of Europe, at about 1.4-1.5 Ma, on the basis of lithic materials from a few sites in southern Europe, such as Pirro Nord in southern Italy (López-García et al 2015;Pavia et al 2012) and lithic assemblages from exposures in the Guadix-Baza area near Orce in southern Spain (Scott et al 2007;Toro-Moyano et al 2013). These finds would imply a hominin presence in Europe close in time to the earliest traces of a hominin presence in western Asia, at Dmanisi (Georgia) at the gates of Europe (Ferring et al 2011), but it needs to be stressed that the dating methods on which such claims are based are associated with large uncertainties (Muttoni et al 2013(Muttoni et al , 2015.…”

Section: Beyond Untermassfeldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uneven Data Quality and the Earliest Occupation of Europe—the Case of Untermassfeld (Germany)

Roebroeks

Gaudzinski‐Windheuser

Baales

et al. 2017

J Paleo Arch

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The database regarding the earliest occupation of Europe has increased significantly in quantity and quality of data points over the last two decades, mainly through the addition of new sites as a result of long-term systematic excavations and large-scale prospections of Early and early Middle Pleistocene exposures. The site distribution pattern suggests an ephemeral presence of hominins in the south of Europe from around 1 million years ago onward, with occasional short northward expansions along the western coastal areas when temperate conditions permitted. From around 600,000-700,000 years ago, Acheulean artefacts appear in Europe and somewhat later hominin presence seems to pick up, with more sites and now some also present in colder climatic settings. It is again only later, around 350,000 years ago, that the first sites show up in more continental, central parts of Europe, east of the Rhine. A series of recent papers on the Early Pleistocene palaeontological site of Untermassfeld (Thuringia, Germany) makes claims that are of great interest for studies of earliest Europe and are at odds with the described pattern: the papers suggest that Untermassfeld has yielded stone tools and humanly modified faunal remains, evidence for a 1 million years old hominin presence in European continental mid-latitudes, and additional evidence that hominins were well-established in Europe already around that time period. Here, we evaluate these claims and demonstrate that these studies are severely flawed in terms of data on provenance of the materials studied and in the interpretation of faunal remains and lithics as testifying to a hominin presence at the site. In actual fact, any reference to the Untermassfeld site as an archaeological one is unwarranted. Furthermore, it is not the only European Early Pleistocene site where inferred evidence for hominin presence is problematic. The strength of the spatiotemporal patterns of hominin presence and absence depends on the quality of the data points we work with, and database maintenance, including critical evaluation of new sites, is crucial to advance our knowledge of the expansions and contractions of hominin ranges during the Pleistocene.J Paleo Arch (2018) 1:5-31 https://doi.org/10.1007/s41982-017-0003-

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Section: Beyond Untermassfeldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uneven Data Quality and the Earliest Occupation of Europe—the Case of Untermassfeld (Germany)

Roebroeks

Gaudzinski‐Windheuser

Baales

et al. 2017

J Paleo Arch

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“…En la Península Ibérica se registran, hasta la fecha, los homínidos fósiles más antiguos de Europa occidental: a) el estrato aurora del yacimiento de Atapuerca (Burgos) contiene parte de una mandíbula de homo antecessor, fechado en una edad superior a 960 ± 140 ka (Berger et al, 2008); b) el Yacimiento de Barranco León (Orce, Granada) registra un molar de "homínido" (sin clasificar) fechado en c. 1.4 Ma (Toro- Moyano et al, 2013). En cualquier caso, la mayor parte de todos estos hallazgos se concentran en torno al subchron normal de Jaramillo entre 0,99 y 1,07 Ma, que se sitúa entre el MIS 30 y 28 (fases finales del piso Calabriense).…”

Section: Sea-level Curve and Marine Isotopic Stages (Mis) Defined By unclassified

“…En realidad el poblamiento en Europa y la Península Ibérica no está constatado hasta hace poco más de un millón de años. El denominado homo antecessor de Atapuerca y los restos de homínidos fósiles de Orce constituyen hasta la fecha los primeros elementos humanos fósiles en el continente Europeo (Aguirre, 2002;Berger et al, 2008;Toro-Moyano et al, 2013).…”

Section: La Prehistoriaunclassified

“…Los datos más antiguos que atestiguan la presencia humana en la península, se encuentran en torno a los 1,5 a 1,25 Ma (Toro- Moyano et al, 2013;Sala et al, 2014) relacionados con yacimientos de Orce en Guadix-Baza (Barranco León 5 y Fuente Nueva 3) y Atapuerca (Sima del Elefante y Estrato Aurora de TD). Estos elementos líticos pertenecerían a un "Paleolíti-co inferior arcaico", correspondiente con el Olduvayense o Modo Técnico 1 (Fig.…”

Section: La Prehistoria Antigua Del Pleistoceno Inferior (Modo Técnicunclassified

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El Periodo Cuaternario: La Historia Geológica de la Prehistoria

Barroso

Bardajı́

Roquero

et al. 2017

CyG

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ResumenEste trabajo presenta una síntesis de la estratigrafía y geocronología del Periodo Cuaternario tras la actualización cronoestratigráfica aprobada por la Comisión Internacional de Estratigrafía (ICS-IUGS) y la Unión Internacional para el Estudio del Cuaternario (INQUA). Se aportan los datos más recientes sobre estratigrafía, cronología y paleoclimatología de este periodo en la Península Ibérica, así como los esquemas o fuentes bibliográficas más clásicas. Se da una visión general de la Prehistoria enmarcándola dentro de los episodios o eventos climáticos más característicos del Pleistoceno final, Holoceno y Antropoceno. Esta síntesis pretende ser una guía resumida de la cronología cuaternaria para todos aquellos investigadores que, trabajando en el Periodo Cuaternario, no poseen una formación científica adecuada al respecto.

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“…Atapuerca-TE9 (De Lombera-Hermida et al, 2015), L ezignan-la-C ebe (Crochet et al, 2009), Pont de Lavaud (Despri ee et al, 2006), Atapuerca-TD3-4 (Oll e et al,2013, Vallparadís (Martínez et al, 2010), Happisburgh (Parfitt et al, 2010) and Pakefield (Parfitt et al, 2005). However, the orthogonal, bipolar on anvil and even centripetal methods (Fuente Nueva and Barranco Le on (Toro-Moyano et al, 2013;Barsky et al, 2014), Pirro Nord (Arzarello et al, 2007;Arzarello and Peretto, 2010), Monte Poggiolo (Peretto et al, 1998;Arzarello and Peretto, 2010), and Atapuerca-TD6 may be represented as well. Centripetal dominance developed and became generalized from the first half of the Middle Pleistocene onwards, with level P of La Caune de l'Arago the oldest example recorded in Europe (Barsky, 2013).…”

Section: What Europe Tells Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Early Acheulean technology of Barranc de la Boella (Catalonia, Spain)

Mosquera

Ollé

Saladié

et al. 2016

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tSince 2007, excavations at Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain) have revealed three localities with rich archaeo-paleontological assemblages: La Mina, El Forn and Pit 1. Palaeontology, palaeomagnetism and cosmogenic analyses have dated these localities to close to 1 Ma. The presence of Mammuthus meridionalis, Hippopotamus antiquus, Stephanorhinus cf. hundsheimensis, Mimomys savini and Victoriamys chalinei stand out in the sample of macro and micro-mammals.The lithic assemblages from the three sites are made up of percussion cobbles, choppers, choppercores, cores, simple flakes, and some retouched flakes: mainly denticulates and notches. In the case of the El Forn and Pit 1 localities, two large cutting tools have been recovered: a cleaver-like tool and a pick made of hard-wearing schist. The lithic assemblage of Pit 1, which includes several refitting lithic sets, is closely associated with the remains of a young-adult Mammuthus meridionalis, in a clear butchering site context. This evidence suggests that Barranc de la Boella is the oldest European Early Acheulean site, and one of the oldest butchering site on the subcontinent during the late Early Pleistocene. The study of the variability among these three localities in similar environmental conditions, together with information from other sites, are discussed in order to gain further knowledge about the appearance of the Acheulean in Europe, and its continuity or discontinuity in relation to pre-existing technologies.

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The oldest human fossil in Europe, from Orce (Spain)

Cited by 254 publications

References 59 publications

Uneven Data Quality and the Earliest Occupation of Europe—the Case of Untermassfeld (Germany)

Uneven Data Quality and the Earliest Occupation of Europe—the Case of Untermassfeld (Germany)

El Periodo Cuaternario: La Historia Geológica de la Prehistoria

The Early Acheulean technology of Barranc de la Boella (Catalonia, Spain)

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