RT Journal Article
T1 Auditory capacities in Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain
A1 Martínez Mendizábal, Ignacio
A1 Rosa Zurera, Manuel
A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
A1 Jarabo, Pilar
A1 Quam, Rolf
A1 Lorenzo Merino, Carlos
A1 Gracia Téllez, Ana
A1 Carretero, José Miguel
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Carbonell i Roura, Eudald
AB Human hearing differs from that of chimpanzees and most other anthropoids in maintaining a relatively high sensitivity from 2 kHz up to 4 kHz, a region that contains relevant acoustic information in spoken language. Knowledge of the auditory capacities in human fossil ancestors could greatly enhance the understanding of when this human pattern emerged during the course of our evolutionary history. Here we use a comprehensive physical model to analyze the influence of skeletal structures on the acoustic filtering of the outer and middle ears in five fossil human specimens from the Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos in the Sierra de Atapuerca of Spain. Our results show that the skeletal anatomy in these hominids is compatible with a human-like pattern of sound power transmission through the outer and middle ear at frequencies up to 5 kHz, suggesting that they already had auditory capacities similar to those of living humans in this frequency range.
PB National Academy of Sciences
SN 0027-8424
YR 2004
FD 2004
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/121136
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/121136
LA eng
NO Martínez, I., et al. «Auditory Capacities in Middle Pleistocene Humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain». Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 101, n.º 27, julio de 2004, pp. 9976-81. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0403595101.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (España)
NO Junta de Castilla y León
DS Docta Complutense
RD 14 jun 2025