Oldest Human Fossil in Western Europe Found in Spain

[theHandpuppet]

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/june-2013/article/oldest-human-fossil-in-western-europe-found-in-spain

Oldest Human Fossil in Western Europe Found in Spain
Sat, Aug 03, 2013
Find suggests Western Europe was colonized by humans soon after their expansion out of Africa.

An international team of researchers have announced the discovery of the oldest hominin (early or archaic human) fossil ever found in Western Europe, pushing back the clock on when early humans first colonized Western Europe after their exodus from Africa.

The find, a fossil tooth (molar) uncovered through excavations at the site of Barranco León in the Orce region of southeastern Spain, was dated to about 1.4 million years ago using several combined dating techniques, including Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) in combination with paleomagnetic and biochronological data.

"While the range of dates obtained from these various methods overlaps with those published for the Sima del Elefante hominin locality (1.2 Ma), the overwhelming majority of evidence points to an older age," reports study author Dr. Isidro-Moyano and colleagues. "Thus, at the moment, the Barranco León hominin is the oldest from Western Europe."* Until now, Sima del Elefante, a rockshelter located in the Sierra de Atapuerca mountain range of northern Spain, held the record for the earliest human fossils in Western Europe.

The tooth, identified as belonging to a species of Homo (genus of great apes that includes modern humans and species closely related to them), was found in sediments at the stratigraphic "Level D". The researchers have not identified the specific human species to which the tooth belonged, but fossil finds in Europe dated to this time range have generally been theorized to be associated with Homo erectus, the first archaic species of early human thought to have exited Africa and colonized Eurasia. The tooth was found within an associated context of lithic (stone) artifacts and large mammal remains.... MORE

[Judi Lynn]

1. K & R. n/t