The first hominin of Europe.
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 remains. 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, Spain. 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 settlement 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 Dolina), 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.
Carbonell
Eudald
E
Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Area de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Plaça Imperial Tarraco 1, 43005 Tarragona, Spain. eudald.carbonell@urv.cat
Bermúdez de Castro
José M
JM
Parés
Josep M
JM
Pérez-González
Alfredo
A
Cuenca-Bescós
Gloria
G
Ollé
Andreu
A
Mosquera
Marina
M
Huguet
Rosa
R
van der Made
Jan
J
Rosas
Antonio
A
Sala
Robert
R
Vallverdú
Josep
J
García
Nuria
N
Granger
Darryl E
DE
Martinón-Torres
María
M
Rodríguez
Xosé P
XP
Stock
Greg M
GM
Vergès
Josep M
JM
Allué
Ethel
E
Burjachs
Francesc
F
Cáceres
Isabel
I
Canals
Antoni
A
Benito
Alfonso
A
Díez
Carlos
C
Lozano
Marina
M
Mateos
Ana
A
Navazo
Marta
M
Rodríguez
Jesús
J
Rosell
Jordi
J
Arsuaga
Juan L
JL
D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D049690:History, Ancient; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification*; D008322:Mammals / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013030:Spain; D013672:Technology