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| Homo Heidelbergensis |
Homo heidelbergensis – also Homo rhodesiensis –
is an extinct species of the genus Homo that lived in Africa, Europe and
western Asia between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago. The skulls of this species
share features with both Homo erectus and anatomically modern Homo sapiens; its
brain was nearly as large as that of Homo sapiens.
Although the first discovery
- a mandible - was made in 1907 near Heidelberg in Germany where it was
described and named by Otto Schoetensack, "the great majority of fossils
attributed to Homo heidelbergensis have [only] been obtained recently,
beginning in 1997." The Sima de los Huesos cave at Atapuerca in northern
Spain holds particularly rich layers of deposits that "represent an
exceptional reserve of data" where excavations are still in progress.
Neanderthals,
Denisovans, and modern humans are all considered to have descended from Homo heidelbergensis
that appeared around 700,000 years ago in Africa. Fossils have been recovered
in Ethiopia, Namibia and South Africa. Between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago a
group of Homo heidelbergensis migrated into Europe and West Asia via yet
unknown routes and eventually evolved into Neanderthals.
Archaeological sites
exist in Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, Hungary and Greece. Another
Homo heidelbergensis group ventured eastwards into continental Asia, eventually
developing into Denisovans. The African Homo heidelbergensis (Homo
rhodesiensis) population evolved into Homo sapiens approximately 130,000 years
ago, then migrated into Europe and Asia in a second wave at some point
between 125,000 and 60,000 years ago. The correct assignment of many fossils to
a particular chronospecies is difficult and often controversies ensue among
paleoanthropologists due to the absence of universally accepted dividing lines
(autapomorphies) between Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals.
Some researchers suggest that the finds associated to Homo heidelbergensis are
mere variants of Homo erectus.
More information: Museo de la Evolución Humana (Burgos)
MIGUELÓN IN THE SIMA DE LOS HUESOS, ATAPUERCA (BURGOS)
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| Miguelón's skull and jaws |
Miguelón
(considered to be 400,000 years old) is the popular nickname for the most complete
skull of an Homo heidelbergensis ever found.
More than 5,500 human fossils of
this species, which are considered to be the direct ancestor of Homo
neanderthalensis, have been found in the Sima de los Huesos ("pit of
bones") site in the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain.
The excavators
suggest that this concentration of bones in the pit may represent the practice
of burial by the inhabitants of the cave. A competing theory cites the lack of
small bones in the assemblage and suggests that the remains were washed into
the pit by natural agents.
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| Miguelón's bony pelvis |
Miguelón, around thirty years old, had 13 impacts in
the head and died of septicemia resulting from broken teeth. In his upper left
jaw there is an important bone alteration, with evidence of alveolar infection.
According to Juan Luis Arsuaga, professor in Paleontology, a tooth had been broken in life by a strong blow, so that
the flesh had been exposed and led to an infectious process that continued until
nearly the orbital bone. The cranial capacity is around 1100cc.
The nickname
Miguelón was derived from Miguel Indurain, a retired Spanish road racing
cyclist that won the Tour and Giro in 1992, the year in which this skull was
discovered.
More information: Atapuerca.tv - Juan Luis Arsuaga's Web Page
If we turn to palaeontology to tell us about our
biological evolution it is to prehistory
that we look for evidence of the evolution of specifically human
patterns of behaviour.
John G.D.Clark
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