RT Journal Article
T1 The first hominin of Europe
A1 Carbonell i Roura, Eudald
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Parés Casanova, J.M.
A1 Cuenca Bescós, Gloria
A1 Pérez González, Alfredo José
A1 Ollé Canellas, Andreu
A1 Mosquera Martínez, Marina
A1 Huguet Pamiès, Rosa
A1 Made, Jan van der
A1 Rosas González, Antonio
A1 Sala, Robert
A1 Vallverdú Poch, Josep
A1 García García, Nuria
A1 Granger, Darryl E.
A1 Martinón Torres, María
A1 Rodríguez, Xoxé Pedro
A1 Stock, Greg M.
A1 Vergès, Josep María
A1 Allué, Ethel
A1 Burjachs i Casas, Francesc
A1 Cáceres Cuello de Oro, Isabel
A1 Canals i Salomó, Antoni
A1 Benito Calvo, Alfonso
A1 Díez Fernández-Lomana, Juan Carlos
A1 Mateos Cachorro, Ana
A1 Navazo Ruiz, Marta
A1 Rodríguez Solorzano, Jesús
A1 Rosell Ardèvol, Jordi
A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
AB The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains1–5. Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain6–8. Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene (approximately 1.2–1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first ettlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites (level TD6 from Gran Dolina9–13), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.
PB Nature Publishing Group
SN 0028-0836
YR 2008
FD 2008
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49552
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/49552
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 4 abr 2025