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136-397: The human skull is that of a woman with obvious anatomically modern human traits, including a high forehead, small jaw, and small supraorbital ridges . Despite the tall cranial vault , the occipital bone forms a distinct dome, a trait normally associated with Neanderthals . The largely intact facial bones indicate a woman with "rugged traits". This mosaic of features mirrors that seen in

272-1027: A 2017 study to be between 350 and 260,000 years ago, compatible with the estimated age of early H. sapiens . The study states that the deep split-time estimation of 350 to 260 thousand years ago is consistent with the archaeological estimate for the onset of the Middle Stone Age across sub-Saharan Africa and coincides with archaic H. sapiens in southern Africa represented by, for example, the Florisbad skull dating to 259 (± 35) thousand years ago. H. s. idaltu , found at Middle Awash in Ethiopia, lived about 160,000 years ago, and H. sapiens lived at Omo Kibish in Ethiopia about 233,000-195,000 years ago. Two fossils from Guomde, Kenya, dated to at least (and likely more than) 180,000 years ago and (more precisely) to 300–270,000 years ago, have been tentatively assigned to H. sapiens and similarities have been noted between them and

408-470: A cingulum and longitudinal grooves on the cheekward side. The upper molars feature several traits typically seen in Neanderthals. The mandibular teeth, on the other hand, are quite archaic. The P 3 (the first lower premolar) has a strongly asymmetrical crown and complex tooth root system. P 3 is smaller than P 4 like in more derived species, but like other early Homo , M 1 (the first lower molar)

544-431: A climber as non-human apes or pre- erectus species, but was capable of efficiently launching projectiles such as stones or spears. The incomplete radius, ATD6-43, was estimated to have measured 257 mm (10.1 in). It is oddly long and straight for someone from so far north, reminiscent of the proportions seen in early modern humans and many people from tropical populations. This could be explained as retention of

680-630: A common injury for them given that the healed fracture leaves no visible mark, as well as their presumed high intensity lifestyle. H. antecessor was producing simple stone tools at Gran Dolina. This industry is found elsewhere in Early Pleistocene Spain—notably in Barranc de la Boella and the nearby Galería—distinguished by the preparation and sharpening of cores before flaking, the presence of (crude) bifaces , and some degree of standardisation of tool types. This bears some resemblance to

816-459: A comparatively homogeneous single species of H. sapiens from more diverse varieties of archaic humans (all of which were descended from the early dispersal of H. erectus some 1.8 million years ago) was debated in terms of two competing models during the 1980s: " recent African origin " postulated the emergence of H. sapiens from a single source population in Africa, which expanded and led to

952-423: A completely flat face and a curved zygomaticoalveolar crest (the bar of bone connecting the cheek to the part of the maxilla that holds the teeth). In 2013 anthropologist Sarah Freidline and colleagues statistically determined that these features would not disappear with maturity. H. antecessor suggests the modern human face evolved and disappeared multiple times in the past, which is not unlikely as facial anatomy

1088-468: A convention popular in the 1990s, Neanderthals were classified as a subspecies of H. sapiens , as H. s. neanderthalensis , while AMH (or European early modern humans , EEMH) was taken to refer to " Cro-Magnon " or H. s. sapiens . Under this nomenclature (Neanderthals considered H. sapiens ), the term "anatomically modern Homo sapiens " (AMHS) has also been used to refer to EEMH ("Cro-Magnons"). It has since become more common to designate Neanderthals as

1224-573: A fire well outside the cave. There is no evidence of any fire use or burnt bones (cooking) in the occupation sequences of the Gran Dolina. In other parts of the world, reliable evidence of fire usage does not surface in the archaeological record until roughly 400,000 years ago. In 2016, small mammal bones burned in fires exceeding 600 °C (1,112 °F) were identified from 780- to 980-thousand-year-old deposits at Cueva Negra  [ es ] in southern Spain, which potentially could have come from

1360-784: A heavy, robust body plan, much like Neanderthals. Based on the relationship between human footprint length and body size, twelve Happisburgh prints that are preserved well enough to measure are consistent with individuals ranging from 93 to 173 cm (3 ft 1 in to 5 ft 8 in) in stature, which may mean some of the trackmakers were children. By this logic, the three biggest footprints—equating to statures of 160 cm (5 ft 3 in), 163 cm (5 ft 4 in), and 173 cm (5 ft 8 in)—ranged from 48 to 53 kg (106 to 117 lb) in weight. Stature estimates for H. antecessor , H. heidelbergensis , and Neanderthals are roughly consistent with each other. Two atlases (the first neck vertebra ) are known, which

1496-406: A higher forehead, and reduced brow ridge . Early modern people and some living people do however have quite pronounced brow ridges, but they differ from those of archaic forms by having both a supraorbital foramen or notch, forming a groove through the ridge above each eye. This splits the ridge into a central part and two distal parts. In current humans, often only the central section of the ridge

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1632-414: A human source as such a high temperature is usually (though not always) recorded in campfires as opposed to natural bushfires. Instead of using fire, these early Europeans probably physiologically withstood the cold, such as by eating a high protein diet to support a heightened metabolism. Despite glacial cycles , the climate was probably similar or a few degrees warmer compared to that of today's, with

1768-757: A lineage-based ( cladistic ) definition of H. sapiens has been suggested, in which H. sapiens would by definition refer to the modern human lineage following the split from the Neanderthal lineage. Such a cladistic definition would extend the age of H. sapiens to over 500,000 years. Estimates for the split between the Homo sapiens line and combined Neanderthal / Denisovan line range from between 503,000 and 565,000 years ago; between 550,000 and 765,000 years ago; and (based on rates of dental evolution) possibly more than 800,000 years ago. Extant human populations have historically been divided into subspecies , but since around

1904-400: A male is estimated to have stood 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) and a female 168.9 cm (5 ft 6 in). These are all rather similar values. For comparison, Western European Neanderthal estimates average 165.3 cm (5 ft 5 in), and early European modern humans 178.4 cm (5 ft 10 in). The ankle joint is adapted for handling high stress, which may indicate

2040-472: A much more in depth analysis of the Sima del Elefante material, Castro and colleagues were unsure of the species classification, opting to leave it at Homo sp. (making no opinion on species designation) pending further discoveries. The stone tool assemblage at the Gran Dolina is broadly similar to several other contemporary ones across Western Europe, which may represent the work of the same species, although this

2176-503: A number of physiological details which can be taken as reliably differentiating the physiology of Neanderthals vs. anatomically modern humans. The term "anatomically modern humans" (AMH) is used with varying scope depending on context, to distinguish "anatomically modern" Homo sapiens from archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Middle and Lower Paleolithic hominins with transitional features intermediate between H. erectus , Neanderthals and early AMH called archaic Homo sapiens . In

2312-416: A prolonged childhood, a characteristic of modern humans in which significant cognitive development takes place. The partial face ATD6-69 has an ectopic M (upper left third molar), where it erupted improperly, and this caused the impaction of M , where it was blocked from erupting at all. Although impaction of M is rather common in modern humans, as high as fifty percent in some populations, impaction of M

2448-481: A separate species, H. neanderthalensis , so that AMH in the European context refers to H. sapiens , but the question is by no means resolved. In this more narrow definition of H. sapiens , the subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu , discovered in 2003, also falls under the umbrella of "anatomically modern". The recognition of H. sapiens idaltu as a valid subspecies of the anatomically modern human lineage would justify

2584-664: A single chopper . These small retouched tools are rare in the European Early Pleistocene. TD6.1 yielded 124 stone tools, but they are badly preserved as the area was also used by hyenas as a latrine, the urine corroding the area. The layer lacks pebbles and cores, and 44 of the stone tools are indeterminate. Flakes are much smaller with an average of 28 mm × 27 mm × 11 mm (1.10 in × 1.06 in × 0.43 in), with ten measuring below 20 mm (0.79 in), and only three exceeding 60 mm (2.4 in). They seem to have been using

2720-508: A smaller, more receded dentary, making the rest of the jaw-line stand out, giving an often quite prominent chin. The central part of the mandible forming the chin carries a triangularly shaped area forming the apex of the chin called the mental trigon , not found in archaic humans. Particularly in living populations, the use of fire and tools requires fewer jaw muscles, giving slender, more gracile jaws. Compared to archaic people, modern humans have smaller, lower faces. The body skeletons of even

2856-519: A stream of water) were also recovered from Facies A in layers TD6.2.2, TD6.2.1 and TD6.1.2, indicated by limestone gravel within the size range of the remains. Thus, H. antecessor may not have inhabited the cave, although was at least active nearby. Only 5.6% of the fossils bear any evidence of weathering from open air, roots, and soil, which could mean they were deposited deep into the cave relatively soon after death. Human occupation seems to have occurred in waves corresponding to timespans featuring

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2992-573: A study published in 2020, there are indications that 2% to 19% (or about ≃6.6 and ≃7.0%) of the DNA of four West African populations may have come from an unknown archaic hominin which split from the ancestor of humans and Neanderthals between 360 kya to 1.02 mya. Generally, modern humans are more lightly built (or more "gracile") than the more "robust" archaic humans . Nevertheless, contemporary humans exhibit high variability in many physiological traits , and may exhibit remarkable "robustness". There are still

3128-491: A virtual skull shape of the last common human ancestor to modern humans/ H. sapiens , representative of the earliest modern humans, and suggested that modern humans arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa while North-African fossils may represent a population which introgressed into Neandertals during the LMP. According to

3264-448: A warm, humid savannah habitat (although riversides likely supported woodlands). These conditions were only present during transitions from cool glacial to warm interglacial periods, after the climate warmed and before the forests could expand to dominate the landscape. The dating attempts of H. antecessor remains are: Until 2013 with the discovery of the 1.4 million-year-old infant tooth from Barranco León , Orce , Spain, these were

3400-641: Is an extinct species of archaic human recorded in the Spanish Sierra de Atapuerca , a productive archaeological site, from 1.2 to 0.8 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene . Populations of this species may have been present elsewhere in Western Europe, and were among the first to settle that region of the world, hence the name. The first fossils were found in the Gran Dolina cave in 1994, and

3536-676: Is associated with the African megadroughts during MIS 5 , beginning 130,000 years ago. A 2011 study located the origin of basal population of contemporary human populations at 130,000 years ago, with the Khoi-San representing an "ancestral population cluster" located in southwestern Africa (near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola ). While early modern human expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa before 130 kya persisted, early expansion to North Africa and Asia appears to have mostly disappeared by

3672-479: Is estimated as having taken place over 500,000 years ago (marking the split of the H. sapiens lineage from ancestors shared with other known archaic hominins). But the oldest split among modern human populations (such as the Khoisan split from other groups) has been recently dated to between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago, and the earliest known examples of H. sapiens fossils also date to about that period, including

3808-625: Is estimated to have occurred in Africa roughly 500,000 years ago. The earliest fossil evidence of early modern humans appears in Africa around 300,000 years ago, with the earliest genetic splits among modern people, according to some evidence, dating to around the same time. Sustained archaic human admixture with modern humans is known to have taken place both in Africa and (following the recent Out-Of-Africa expansion ) in Eurasia, between about 100,000 and 30,000 years ago. The binomial name Homo sapiens

3944-553: Is evidence that the characteristic human brain development, especially the prefrontal cortex, was due to "an exceptional acceleration of metabolome evolution ... paralleled by a drastic reduction in muscle strength. The observed rapid metabolic changes in brain and muscle, together with the unique human cognitive skills and low muscle performance, might reflect parallel mechanisms in human evolution." The Schöningen spears and their correlation of finds are evidence that complex technological skills already existed 300,000 years ago, and are

4080-409: Is exceptional as this bone is rarely discovered for archaic humans. They are indistinguishable from those of modern humans. For the axis (the second neck vertebra), the angle of the spinous process (jutting out from the vertebra) is about 19°, comparable with Neanderthals and modern humans, diverging from H. ergaster with a low angle of about 8°. The vertebral foramen (that houses the spinal cord )

4216-439: Is most often encountered by soldiers, long distance runners, and potentially flatfooted people whose foot bones failed under repeated, high intensity activity. Later Neanderthals would evolve a much more robust lower skeleton possibly to withstand such taxing movement across uneven terrain. Although only one other example of the condition has been identified (at Sima de los Huesos) among archaic humans, march fractures were probably

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4352-450: Is no evidence H. antecessor could wield fire and cook, and similarly the wearing on the molars indicates the more frequent consumption of grittier and more mechanically challenging foods than later European species, such as raw rather than cooked meat and underground storage organs . Eighty young adult and child H. antecessor specimens from the Gran Dolina exhibit cut marks and fracturing indicative of cannibalism , and H. antecessor

4488-470: Is of the order of about 1% to 4% in Europeans and East Asians, and highest among Melanesians (the last also having Denisova hominin admixture at 4% to 6% in addition to neanderthal admixture). Cumulatively, about 20% of the Neanderthal genome is estimated to remain present spread in contemporary populations. In September 2019, scientists reported the computerized determination, based on 260 CT scans , of

4624-406: Is on the narrow side compared to modern humans. The spine as a whole otherwise aligns with modern humans. There is one known (and incomplete) clavicle, ATD6-50, which is thick compared to those of modern humans. This may indicate H. antecessor had long and flattish (platycleidic) clavicles like other archaic humans. This would point to a broad chest. The proximal curvature (twisting of the bone on

4760-477: Is preserved (if it is preserved at all). This contrasts with archaic humans, where the brow ridge is pronounced and unbroken. Modern humans commonly have a steep, even vertical forehead whereas their predecessors had foreheads that sloped strongly backwards. According to Desmond Morris , the vertical forehead in humans plays an important role in human communication through eyebrow movements and forehead skin wrinkling. Brain size in both Neanderthals and AMH

4896-437: Is rare, as little as 0.08 to 2.3%. Impaction can lead to secondary lesions, such as dental cavities , root resorption , keratocysts and dentigerous cysts . The mandible ATE9-1 exhibits severe dental attrition and abrasion of the tooth crowns and bone resorption at the root, so much so that the root canals (the sensitive interior) of the canines are exposed. The trauma is consistent with gum disease due to overloading

5032-414: Is rather robust, which could be related to how H. antecessor pushed off the ground. The ankle bone (talus) is exceptionally long and high as well as the facet where it connects with the leg (the trochlea), which may be related to how H. antecessor walked. The long trochlea caused a short neck of the talus, which bridges the head of the talus connecting to the toes, and the body of the talus connecting to

5168-457: Is significantly larger on average (but overlapping in range) than brain size in H. erectus . Neanderthal and AMH brain sizes are in the same range, but there are differences in the relative sizes of individual brain areas, with significantly larger visual systems in Neanderthals than in AMH. Compared to archaic people, anatomically modern humans have smaller, differently shaped teeth. This results in

5304-587: Is smaller than M 2 and the cusps of the molar crowns make a Y shape. The distribution of enamel is Neanderthal-like, with thicker layers at the periphery than at the cusps. Based on two canine teeth (ATD6- 69 and ATD6-13), the thickness of the enamel and the proportion of the tooth covered by the gums vary to the same degree as for males and females of modern humans and many other apes, so this may be due to sexual dimorphism, with females having smaller teeth, relatively thicker enamel, and smaller proportion of gum coverage. The parietal bones (each being one side of

5440-402: Is strongly influenced by diet and thus the environment. The nasal bones are like those of modern humans. The mandible (lower jaw) is quite gracile unlike most other archaic humans. It exhibits several archaic features, but the shape of the mandibular notch is modern humanlike, and the alveolar part (adjacent to the teeth) is completely vertical as in modern humans. Like many Neanderthals,

5576-445: Is taken to reflect a process towards a smaller and more fine-boned skeleton beginning around 50,000–30,000 years ago. The cranium lacks a pronounced occipital bun in the neck, a bulge that anchored considerable neck muscles in Neanderthals. Modern humans, even the earlier ones, generally have a larger fore-brain than the archaic people, so that the brain sits above rather than behind the eyes. This will usually (though not always) give

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5712-420: Is the second-most common species bearing evidence of butchering. Human bodies were efficiently utilised, and may be the reason why most bones are smashed or otherwise badly damaged. There are no complete skulls, elements from the face and back of the skull are usually percussed, and the muscle attachments on the face and the base of the skull were cut off. The intense modification of the face was probably to access

5848-588: Is unconfirmable because many of these sites have not produced human fossils. In 2014 fifty footprints dating to between 1.2 million and 800,000 years ago were discovered in Happisburgh , England, which could potentially be attributed to an H. antecessor group given it is the only human species identified during that time in Western Europe. The face of H. antecessor is unexpectedly similar to that of modern humans compared to other archaic groups, so in their original description, Castro and colleagues classified it as

5984-620: The Arctic . Both Neanderthal and EEMH had somewhat larger cranial volumes on average than modern Europeans, suggesting the relaxation of selection pressures for larger brain volume after the end of the LGM. Examples for still later adaptations related to agriculture and animal domestication including East Asian types of ADH1B associated with rice domestication , or lactase persistence , are due to recent selection pressures. Homo antecessor Homo antecessor ( Latin "pioneer man")

6120-456: The Ebro River . The fossils of sixteen animal species were recovered randomly mixed with the H. antecessor material at the Gran Dolina, including the extinct bush-antlered deer , the extinct species of fallow deer Dama vallonetensi , the extinct subspecies of red deer Cervus elaphus acoronatus , the extinct bison Bison voigstedtensi , the extinct rhino Stephanorhinus etruscus ,

6256-727: The Florisbad site in South Africa, dating to about 259,000 years ago, and the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco, dated about 315,000 years ago. Extinct species of the genus Homo include Homo erectus (extant from roughly 2 to 0.1 million years ago) and a number of other species (by some authors considered subspecies of either H. sapiens or H. erectus ). The divergence of the lineage leading to H. sapiens out of ancestral H. erectus (or an intermediate species such as Homo antecessor )

6392-594: The Jebel Irhoud remains from Morocco (ca. 300,000 or 350–280,000 years ago), the Florisbad Skull from South Africa (ca. 259,000 years ago), and the Omo remains from Ethiopia (ca. 195,000, or, as more recently dated, ca. 233,000 years ago). An mtDNA study in 2019 proposed an origin of modern humans in Botswana (and a Khoisan split) of around 200,000 years. However, this proposal has been widely criticized by scholars, with

6528-558: The Mesolithic and the Neolithic , due to increased selection pressures and due to founder effects associated with migration . Alleles predictive of light skin have been found in Neanderthals , but the alleles for light skin in Europeans and East Asians, associated with KITLG and ASIP , are (as of 2012 ) thought to have not been acquired by archaic admixture but recent mutations since

6664-554: The Peștera cu Oase find, indicating possible Neanderthal admixture or generally robust (archaic) traits (or both). The early date makes the find referable to the early Cro-Magnon group of finds. On the basis of radiocarbon dating and also the analysis of the archaeological context, some researchers advanced the hypothesis of the association of these bones with Cro-Magnons and the Aurignacian archaeological culture . Others mention

6800-459: The brain case is quite rounded and distinct from that of the Neanderthals and is similar to the brain case of modern humans. It is uncertain whether the robust traits of some of the early modern humans like Skhul V reflects mixed ancestry or retention of older traits. The "gracile" or lightly built skeleton of anatomically modern humans has been connected to a change in behavior, including increased cooperation and "resource transport". There

6936-584: The lipid catabolic process . A 2017 study found correlation of Neanderthal admixture in phenotypic traits in modern European populations. Physiological or phenotypical changes have been traced to Upper Paleolithic mutations, such as the East Asian variant of the EDAR gene, dated to c. 35,000 years ago. Recent divergence of Eurasian lineages was sped up significantly during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM),

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7072-411: The medial pterygoid tubercle is large. Unlike most Neanderthals, there is no retromolar space (a large gap between the last molar and the end of the body of the mandible). The upper incisors are shovel-shaped (the lingual, or tongue, side is distinctly concave), a feature characteristic of other Eurasian human populations, including modern. The canines bear the cingulum (a protuberance toward

7208-417: The radial tuberosity (a bony knob jutting out just below the radial neck) is anteriorly placed (toward the front side when the arm is facing out). Like those of other archaic humans, the femur features a developed trochanteric fossa and posterior crest. These traits are highly variable among modern human populations. The two known kneecaps , ATD6-22 and ATD6-56, are subrectangular in shape as opposed to

7344-542: The range of phenotypes seen in contemporary humans, from extinct archaic human species. This distinction is useful especially for times and regions where anatomically modern and archaic humans co-existed, for example, in Paleolithic Europe . Among the oldest known remains of Homo sapiens are those found at the Omo-Kibish I archaeological site in south-western Ethiopia , dating to about 233,000 to 196,000 years ago,

7480-839: The recent "out of Africa" migration , likely between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago. Recent admixture analyses have added to the complexity, finding that Eastern Neanderthals derive up to 2% of their ancestry from anatomically modern humans who left Africa some 100 kya . The extent of Neanderthal admixture (and introgression of genes acquired by admixture) varies significantly between contemporary racial groups, being absent in Africans, intermediate in Europeans and highest in East Asians. Certain genes related to UV-light adaptation introgressed from Neanderthals have been found to have been selected for in East Asians specifically from 45,000 years ago until around 5,000 years ago. The extent of archaic admixture

7616-474: The 1980s all extant groups have tended to be subsumed into a single species, H. sapiens , avoiding division into subspecies altogether. Some sources show Neanderthals ( H. neanderthalensis ) as a subspecies ( H. sapiens neanderthalensis ). Similarly, the discovered specimens of the H. rhodesiensis species have been classified by some as a subspecies ( H. sapiens rhodesiensis ), although it remains more common to treat these last two as separate species within

7752-626: The 2010s with the discovery of admixture events ( introgression ) of populations of H. sapiens with populations of archaic humans over the period of between roughly 100,000 and 30,000 years ago, both in Eurasia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Neanderthal admixture , in the range of 1–4%, is found in all modern populations outside of Africa, including in Europeans, Asians, Papua New Guineans, Australian Aboriginals, Native Americans, and other non-Africans. This suggests that interbreeding between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans took place after

7888-627: The Acheulean was brought up from Africa and diffused across Europe. In 2020 French anthropologist Marie-Hélène Moncel argued the appearance of typical Achuelean bifaces 700,000 years ago in Europe was too sudden to be the result of completely independent evolution from local technologies, so there must have been influence from Africa. Wearing on the TD6 stone tools is consistent with repeated abrasion against flesh, so they were probably used as butchering implements. In

8024-493: The Americas by about 40,000–25,000 years ago. Evidence for the overwhelming contribution of this "recent" ( L3 -derived) expansion to all non-African populations was established based on mitochondrial DNA , combined with evidence based on physical anthropology of archaic specimens , during the 1990s and 2000s, and has also been supported by Y DNA and autosomal DNA . The assumption of complete replacement has been revised in

8160-651: The Gran Dolina for bear fossils (he recovered Ursus remains), but was advised by the Edelweiss Speleological Team to continue at the nearby Sima de los Huesos ("bone pit"). Here, in addition to a wealth of bear fossils, he also recovered archaic human fossils, which prompted a massive exploration of the Sierra de Atapuerca, at first headed by Spanish palaeontologist Emiliano Aguirre but quickly taken over by José María Bermúdez de Castro , Eudald Carbonell , and Juan Luis Arsuaga . They restarted excavation of

8296-405: The Gran Dolina in 1992, and found archaic human remains two years later; in 1997, they formally described these as a new species , Homo antecessor . The holotype is specimen ATD6-5, a right mandibular fragment retaining the molars and recovered with some isolated teeth. In their original description Castro and colleagues posited that the species was the first human to colonise Europe, hence

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8432-408: The Gran Dolina. They produced far fewer pebbles and spent more time knapping off flakes, but they were not particularly economic with their materials, and about half of the cores could have produced more flakes. They additionally modified irregular blanks into more workable shapes before flaking off pieces. This preplanning allowed them to use other techniques: the centripetal method (flaking off only

8568-399: The LGM. Phenotypes associated with the " white " or " Caucasian " populations of Western Eurasian stock emerge during the LGM, from about 19,000 years ago. Average cranial capacity in modern human populations varies in the range of 1,200 to 1,450 cm for adult males. Larger cranial volume is associated with climatic region, the largest averages being found in populations of Siberia and

8704-438: The Neanderthal lineage, as "pre-Neanderthal" or "early Neanderthal", while the divergence time between the Neanderthal and modern lineages has been pushed back to before the emergence of H. heidelbergensis , to close to 800,000 years ago, the approximate time of disappearance of H. antecessor . The term Middle Paleolithic is intended to cover the time between the first emergence of H. sapiens (roughly 300,000 years ago) and

8840-714: The Omo Kibbish remains. Fossil evidence for modern human presence in West Asia is ascertained for 177,000 years ago, and disputed fossil evidence suggests expansion as far as East Asia by 120,000 years ago. In July 2019, anthropologists reported the discovery of 210,000 year old remains of a H. sapiens and 170,000 year old remains of a H. neanderthalensis in Apidima Cave , Peloponnese , Greece , more than 150,000 years older than previous H. sapiens finds in Europe. A significant dispersal event, within Africa and to West Asia,

8976-452: The Tighennif remains to be much larger than H. antecessor and dentally similar to other African populations. Nonetheless, they still recommended reviving mauritanicus to house all Early Pleistocene North African specimens as " H. ergaster mauritanicus ". In 2007 primatologist Esteban Sarmiento and colleagues questioned the legitimacy of H. antecessor as a separate species because much of

9112-525: The age of Y-chromosomal Adam have been pushed back significantly with the discovery of an ancient Y-chromosomal lineage in 2013, to likely beyond 300,000 years ago. There have, however, been no reports of the survival of Y-chromosomal or mitochondrial DNA clearly deriving from archaic humans (which would push back the age of the most recent patrilinear or matrilinear ancestor beyond 500,000 years). Fossil teeth found at Qesem Cave (Israel) and dated to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago have been compared to

9248-510: The ancestral long limbed tropical form, as opposed to Neanderthals who evolved shorter limbs. This could also indicate a high brachial index (radial to humeral length ratio). Compared to more recent human species, the cross section of the radial shaft is rather round and gracile throughout its length. Like archaic humans, the radial neck (near the elbow) is long, giving more leverage to the biceps brachii . Like modern humans and H. heidelbergensis , but unlike Neanderthals and more archaic hominins,

9384-603: The assemblage had a lack of older individuals, and was composed entirely of young adults and juveniles. In 2010 Carbonell hypothesised that they were practising exocannibalism and hunting down neighbouring tribesmen. While not rejecting this hypothesis, Spanish palaeoanthropologist Jesús Rodríguez and colleagues suggested as an alternative explanation that the eaten people may have been fellow tribesmen who had died of unrelated reasons (such as natural causes, war, or accidents), eaten in funerary rites or possibly simply to avoid wasting food. They consider this explanation as better fitting

9520-408: The back part of the top of the skull) are flattened, and conjoin at a peak at the midline. This "tent-like" profile is also exhibited in more archaic African H. ergaster and Asian H. erectus . Like H. ergaster , the temporal styloid process just below the ear is fused to the base of the skull . The brow ridges are prominent. The upper margin of the squamous part of temporal bones (on the side of

9656-399: The base) and the essential ridge (toward the midline) like more derived species, but retain the cuspules (small bumps) near the tip and bordering incisor like more archaic species. Compared to later hominins, the lower canines of H. antecessor bear fewer perikymata. The upper premolar crowns are rather derived, being nearly symmetrical and bearing a lingual cusp (on the tongue side), and

9792-405: The body. The vertebrae were often cut, peeled, and percussed. The muscles on all of the clavicles were sawed off to disconnect the shoulder. One radius, ATD6-43, was cut up and peeled. The femur was shattered, probably to extract the bone marrow. The hands and feet variably exhibit percussion, cutting, or peeling, likely a result of dismemberment. In sum, mainly the meatier areas were prepared, and

9928-417: The brain. The crown of the head was probably struck, resulting in the impact scars on the teeth at the gum line. Several skull fragments exhibit peeling. The ribs also bear cut marks along the muscle attachments consistent with defleshing, and ATD6-39 has cuts along the length of the rib, which may be related to disembowelment. The nape muscles were sliced off, and the head and neck were probably detached from

10064-481: The coast otherwise. The Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain had long been known to be abundant in fossil remains. The Gran Dolina ("great sinkhole") was first explored for fossils by archaeologist Francisco Jordá Cerdá  [ es ] in a short field trip to the region in 1966, where he recovered a few animal fossils and stone tools. He lacked the resources and manpower to continue any further. In 1976, Spanish palaeontologist Trinidad Torres investigated

10200-656: The coldest average temperature reaching 2 °C (36 °F) sometime in December and January, and the hottest in July and August 18 °C (64 °F). Freezing temperatures could have been reached from November to March, but the presence of olive and oak suggests subfreezing was an infrequent occurrence. TE9 similarly indicates a generally warm climate. The Happisburgh footprints were lain in estuarine mudflats with open forests dominated by pine , spruce , birch , and in wetter areas alder , with patches of heath and grasslands;

10336-491: The contemporary height distribution measured among Malay people , for one. Following the peopling of Africa some 130,000 years ago, and the recent Out-of-Africa expansion some 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, some sub-populations of H. sapiens had been essentially isolated for tens of thousands of years prior to the early modern Age of Discovery . Combined with archaic admixture this has resulted in significant genetic variation , which in some instances has been shown to be

10472-431: The correlation among modern Indian people between clavicle length and stature. An adult radius (a forearm bone), ATD6-43, which could be male based on absolute size or female based on gracility, was estimated to have belonged to a 172.5 cm (5 ft 8 in) tall individual based on the average of equations among several modern populations relating radial length to stature. Based on metatarsal (foot bone) length,

10608-494: The curving of the cheekbone as it merges into the upper jaw—although these elements are known only from a juvenile specimen. Brain volume could have been 1,000 cc (61 cu in) or more, but no intact braincase has been discovered. This is within the range of variation for modern humans. Stature estimates range from 162.3–186.8 cm (5 ft 4 in – 6 ft 2 in). H. antecessor may have been broad-chested and rather heavy, much like Neanderthals, although

10744-647: The dental material from the younger (120,000–80,000 years ago) Skhul and Qafzeh hominins . Dispersal of early H. sapiens begins soon after its emergence, as evidenced by the North African Jebel Irhoud finds (dated to around 315,000 years ago). There is indirect evidence for H. sapiens presence in West Asia around 270,000 years ago. The Florisbad Skull from Florisbad, South Africa, dated to about 259,000 years ago, has also been classified as representing early H. sapiens . Scerri (2018) , pp. 582–594 In September 2019, scientists proposed that

10880-412: The description of contemporary humans with the subspecies name Homo sapiens sapiens . However, biological anthropologist Chris Stringer does not consider idaltu distinct enough within H. sapiens to warrant its own subspecies designation. A further division of AMH into "early" or "robust" vs. "post-glacial" or " gracile " subtypes has since been used for convenience. The emergence of "gracile AMH"

11016-425: The dig team excavated a small test pit (to see if the unit warranted further investigation) in the southeast section measuring 6 m (65 sq ft). Human fossils were discovered first by Aurora Martín Nájera; the 30 cm (12 in) layer they were found in is nicknamed the "Aurora Stratum " after her. A 13 m (140 sq ft) triangular section was excavated in the central section starting in

11152-623: The distal bones were shorter, usually thought to be an adaptation to cold climate. The same adaptation is found in some modern people living in the polar regions. Height ranges overlap between Neanderthals and AMH, with Neanderthal averages cited as 164 to 168 cm (65 to 66 in) and 152 to 156 cm (60 to 61 in) for males and females, respectively, which is largely identical to pre-industrial average heights for AMH. Contemporary national averages range between 158 to 184 cm (62 to 72 in) in males and 147 to 172 cm (58 to 68 in) in females. Neanderthal ranges approximate

11288-488: The earliest H. sapiens (and last common human ancestor to modern humans) arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa . Among extant populations, the Khoi-San (or " Capoid ") hunters-gatherers of Southern Africa may represent the human population with the earliest possible divergence within the group Homo sapiens sapiens . Their separation time has been estimated in

11424-437: The earliest and most robustly built modern humans were less robust than those of Neanderthals (and from what little we know from Denisovans), having essentially modern proportions. Particularly regarding the long bones of the limbs, the distal bones (the radius / ulna and tibia / fibula ) are nearly the same size or slightly shorter than the proximal bones (the humerus and femur ). In ancient people, particularly Neanderthals,

11560-402: The early 2000s. Human fossils were also found in the northern section. In sum, about 170 H. antecessor specimens were recovered. The best preserved are ATD6-15 and ATD6-69 (possibly belonging to the same individual) that most clearly elucidate facial anatomy. Subsequent field seasons have yielded about sixty more specimens. The discovered parts of the H. antecessor skeleton are: elements of

11696-454: The edges of the core) and the bipolar method (laying the core on an anvil and slamming it with a hammerstone ). There are 62 flakes measuring below 20 mm (0.79 in) in height, and 28 above 60 mm (2.4 in). There are three conspicuously higher quality flakes, thinner and longer than the others, which may have been produced by the same person. There are also retouched tools: notches, spines, denticulates , points, scrapers , and

11832-572: The emergence of "anatomically modern humans". Since the 2000s, the discovery of older remains with comparable characteristics, and the discovery of ongoing hybridization between "modern" and "archaic" populations after the time of the Omo remains, have opened up a renewed debate on the age of H. sapiens in journalistic publications. H. s. idaltu , dated to 160,000 years ago, has been postulated as an extinct subspecies of H. sapiens in 2003. H. neanderthalensis , which became extinct about 40,000 years ago,

11968-433: The emergence of a much more detailed picture, intermediate between the two competing scenarios outlined above: The recent Out-of-Africa expansion accounts for the predominant part of modern human ancestry, while there were also significant admixture events with regional archaic humans. Since the 1970s, the Omo remains, originally dated to some 195,000 years ago, have often been taken as the conventional cut-off point for

12104-785: The end of MIS5 (75,000 years ago), and is known only from fossil evidence and from archaic admixture . Eurasia was re-populated by early modern humans in the so-called "recent out-of-Africa migration" post-dating MIS5, beginning around 70,000–50,000 years ago. In this expansion, bearers of mt-DNA haplogroup L3 left East Africa, likely reaching Arabia via the Bab-el-Mandeb , and in the Great Coastal Migration spread to South Asia, Maritime South Asia and Oceania between 65,000 and 50,000 years ago, while Europe , East and North Asia were reached by about 45,000 years ago. Some evidence suggests that an early wave of humans may have reached

12240-455: The evidence of H. antecessor cannibalism in 1999, Spanish palaeontologist Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo and colleagues instead ascribed the relative abundance of facial cut marks in the H. antecessor sample to the strongly contrasting structure of the muscle attachments between humans and typical animal prey items (that is, defleshing the human face simply required more cuts, or the butcherers were less familiar with defleshing humans). Nonetheless,

12376-458: The extinct horse Equus stenonis , the extinct fox Vulpes praeglacialis , the extinct bear Ursus dolinensis , the extinct wolf Canis mosbachensis , the spotted hyena , the wild boar , and undetermined species of mammoth , monkey , and lynx . Some specimens of the former eight species and the monkey exhibit cut marks consistent with butchery, with about 13% of all Gran Dolina remains bearing some evidence of human modification. Deer are

12512-520: The extinct fox Vulpes alopecoides , several rats , shrews , and rabbits , and undetermined species of macaques , boar, bison, and beaver . The large mammals are most commonly represented by long bones , a few of which are cracked open, presumably to access the bone marrow . Some others bear evidence of percussion and defleshing. They were also butchering Hermann's tortoise , an easily obtainable source of meat considering how slowly tortoises move. The cool and humid montane environment encouraged

12648-480: The extinction of all other human varieties, while the " multiregional evolution " model postulated the survival of regional forms of archaic humans, gradually converging into the modern human varieties by the mechanism of clinal variation , via genetic drift , gene flow and selection throughout the Pleistocene. Since the 2000s, the availability of data from archaeogenetics and population genetics has led to

12784-434: The face, clavicle , forearm, digits, knees, and a few vertebrae and ribs . In 2007, a mandibular fragment with some teeth, ATE9-1, provisionally assigned to H. antecessor by Carbonell, was recovered from the nearby Sima del Elefante ("elephant pit") in unit TE9 ("trinchera elefante"), belonging to a 20–25-year-old individual. The site additionally yielded stone flakes and evidence of butchery. In 2011, after providing

12920-486: The first obvious proof of an active (big game) hunt . H. heidelbergensis already had intellectual and cognitive skills like anticipatory planning, thinking and acting that so far have only been attributed to modern man. The ongoing admixture events within anatomically modern human populations make it difficult to estimate the age of the matrilinear and patrilinear most recent common ancestors of modern populations ( Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosomal Adam ). Estimates of

13056-438: The genus Homo rather than as subspecies within H. sapiens . All humans are considered to be a part of the subspecies H. sapiens sapiens , a designation which has been a matter of debate since a species is usually not given a subspecies category unless there is evidence of multiple distinct subspecies. The divergence of the lineage that would lead to H. sapiens out of archaic human varieties derived from H. erectus ,

13192-713: The growth of olive, mastic , beech , hazelnut , and chestnut trees, which H. antecessor may have used as food sources, although they become more common in TD7 and TD8 as the interglacial progresses and the environment becomes wetter. In the H. antecessor unit TD6, pollen predominantly derives from juniper and oak. Trees probably grew along rivers and streams, while the rest of the hills and ridges were dominated by grasses. The TD6 individuals also seem to have been consuming hackberries , which in historical times have been used for their medicinal properties more than satiating hunger because these berries provide very little flesh. There

13328-643: The individual was a fully modern human; mtDNA analysis shows that Peștera Muierii 1 comes from a previously unknown basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6* lineage. As Haplogroup U6 is today common in North Africa , researchers believe that the U6 lineage in North Africa was the result of migration from Western Asian back into North Africa. Researchers also extracted DNA from the temporal bone of Peștera Muierii 2 (33,000 BP). This individual also comes from basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6 and

13464-401: The joint as a consequence of bone misalignment or ligament laxity . In the case of ATD6-56, improper loading was likely the causal factor. Frequent squatting and kneeling can lead to this condition, but if the right knee bone ATD6-22 (that has no such trauma) belongs to the same individual, then this is unlikely to be the reason. If so, the lesion was caused by a local trauma, such as strain on

13600-461: The last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals , supplanting H. heidelbergensis in this capacity. The facial anatomy came under close scrutiny in subsequent years. In 2001 French palaeoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin postulated that the Gran Dolina remains and the contemporaneous Tighennif remains from Algeria (usually classified as Homo ergaster [=? Homo erectus ], originally " Atlantanthropus mauritanicus " ) represent

13736-455: The leg. This somewhat converges with the condition exhibited in Neanderthals, which is generally explained as a response to a heavy and robust body, to alleviate the consequently higher stress to the articular cartilage in the ankle joint. This would also have permitted greater flexion . In 2010 Castro and colleagues estimated that ATD6-112, represented by a permanent upper and lower first molar, died between 5.3 and 6.6 years of age based on

13872-433: The limbs were proportionally long, a trait more frequent in tropical populations. The kneecaps are thin and have poorly developed tendon attachments. The feet indicate H. antecessor walked differently compared to modern humans. H. antecessor was predominantly manufacturing simple pebble and flake stone tools out of quartz and chert , although they used a variety of materials. This industry has some similarities with

14008-500: The lineage of modern humans since the split from the lineage of Neanderthals , roughly 500,000 to 800,000 years ago. The time of divergence between archaic H. sapiens and ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans caused by a genetic bottleneck of the latter was dated at 744,000 years ago, combined with repeated early admixture events and Denisovans diverging from Neanderthals 300 generations after their split from H. sapiens , as calculated by Rogers et al. (2017). The derivation of

14144-596: The lower part of TD6.3 (TD6 subunit 3), 84 stone tools were recovered, predominantly small, unmodified quartzite pebbles with percussive damage—probably inflicted from pounding items such as bone—as opposed to manufacturing more specialised implements. Although 41% of the section's assemblage consists of flakes, they are rather crude and large—averaging 38 mm × 30 mm × 11 mm (1.50 in × 1.18 in × 0.43 in)—either resulting from rudimentary knapping (stoneworking) skills or difficulty working such poor quality materials. They made use of

14280-460: The modern humanlike face evolved independently several times among Homo . In 2017 Castro and colleagues conceded that H. antecessor may or may not be a modern human ancestor, although if it was not then it probably split quite shortly before the modern human/Neanderthal split. In 2020 Dutch molecular palaeoanthropologist Frido Welker and colleagues concluded H. antecessor is not a modern human ancestor by analysing ancient proteins collected from

14416-416: The more common subtriangular, although rather narrow like those of modern humans. They are quite small and thin, falling at the lower end for modern human females. The apex of the kneecap (the area that does not join to another bone) is not well developed, leaving little attachment for the patellar tendon . The medial (toward the midline) facet and lateral (toward the sides) facet for the knee joint are roughly

14552-472: The more complex Acheulean , an industry which is characteristic of contemporary African and later European sites. Groups may have been dispatching hunting parties, which mainly targeted deer in their savannah and mixed woodland environment. Many of the H. antecessor specimens were cannibalised , perhaps as a cultural practice. There is no evidence they were using fire, and they similarly only inhabited inland Iberia during warm periods, presumably retreating to

14688-460: The most commonly butchered animal, with 106 specimens. The inhabitants seem to have carried carcasses back whole when feasible, and only the limbs and skulls of larger quarries. This indicates the Gran Dolina H. antecessor were dispatching hunting parties who killed and hauled back prey to share with the entire group rather than each individual foraging entirely for themselves, which evinces social cooperation and division of labour. Less than 5% of all

14824-477: The much more complex Acheulean industry, characteristic of African and later European sites. The earliest evidence of typical Acheulean toolsets comes from Africa 1.75 million years ago, but the typical Acheulean toolset pops up in Western Europe nearly a million years later. It is debated if these early European sites evolved into the European Acheulean industry independently from African counterparts, or if

14960-399: The name antecessor ( Latin for "explorer", "pioneer", or "early settler"). The 25 m (82 ft) of Pleistocene sediments at the Gran Dolina are divided into eleven units , TD1 to TD11 ("trinchera dolina" or "sinkhole trench"). H. antecessor was recovered from TD6, which has consequently become the most well researched unit of the site. In the first field seasons from 1994–1995,

15096-400: The northwest area. This might indicate they were dragged into the cave via a debris flow . As for Facies F, which contains the most human remains, they may have been deposited by a low energy debris flow (consistent with floodplain behaviour) from the main entrance to the northwest, as well as a stronger debris flow from another entrance to the south. Fluvially deposited fossils (dragged in by

15232-649: The oldest human fossils known from Europe, although human activity on the continent stretches back as early as 1.6 million years ago in Eastern Europe and Spain indicated by stone tools. The facial anatomy of H. antecessor is predominantly known from the 10–11.5-year-old H. antecessor child ATD6-69, as the few other facial specimens are fragmentary. ATD6-69 is strikingly similar to modern humans (as well as East Asian Middle Pleistocene archaic humans) as opposed to West Eurasian or African Middle Pleistocene archaic humans including Neanderthals. The most notable traits are

15368-478: The period held by some to mark the emergence of full behavioral modernity (roughly by 50,000 years ago, corresponding to the start of the Upper Paleolithic ). Many of the early modern human finds, like those of Jebel Irhoud , Omo , Herto , Florisbad , Skhul , and Peștera cu Oase exhibit a mix of archaic and modern traits. Skhul V, for example, has prominent brow ridges and a projecting face. However,

15504-532: The possibility that these findings could belong to a certain regional culture from the Southern Carpathians , from the period of the Final Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic . The remains of three individuals were found at the site. In a 2016 study, researchers extracted DNA from two upper molars from one of the three individuals, Peștera Muierii 1 (35,000 BP), and confirmed that

15640-508: The recent evidence overall (genetic, fossil, and archaeological) supporting an origin for H. sapiens approximately 100,000 years earlier and in a broader region of Africa than the study proposes. In September 2019, scientists proposed that the earliest H. sapiens (and last common human ancestor to modern humans) arose between 350,000 and 260,000 years ago through a merging of populations in East and South Africa . An alternative suggestion defines H. sapiens cladistically as including

15776-432: The remains retain animal carnivore damage, in two instances toothmarks overlapping cutmarks from an unidentified animal, which could indicate animals were sometimes scavenging H. antecessor leftovers. The Sima del Elefante site records the fallow deer, the bush-antlered deer, rhinos, E. stenonis , C. mosbachensis , U. dolinensis , the extinct big cat Panthera gombaszoegensis , the extinct lynx Lynx issiodorensis ,

15912-442: The rest discarded. This suggests they were butchering humans for nutritional purposes, but the face generally exhibits significantly more cutmarks than the faces of animals. When this is seen in prehistoric modern human specimens, it is typically interpreted as evidence of exocannibalism , a form of ritual cannibalism where one eats someone from beyond their social group, such as an enemy from a neighbouring tribe. But, when overviewing

16048-769: The result of directional selection taking place over the past 15,000 years, i.e., significantly later than possible archaic admixture events. Some climatic adaptations, such as high-altitude adaptation in humans , are thought to have been acquired by archaic admixture. Introgression of genetic variants acquired by Neanderthal admixture have different distributions in European and East Asians , reflecting differences in recent selective pressures. A 2014 study reported that Neanderthal-derived variants found in East Asian populations showed clustering in functional groups related to immune and haematopoietic pathways , while European populations showed clustering in functional groups related to

16184-454: The same methods as the people who manufactured the TD6.2 tools. They were only retouching larger flakes, the fourteen such tools averaging 35 mm × 26 mm × 14 mm (1.38 in × 1.02 in × 0.55 in): one marginally retouched flake, one notch, three spines, seven denticulate sidescrapers, and one denticulate point. Only a few charcoal particles have been collected from TD6, which probably originated from

16320-471: The same population, because fourteen of the fifteen dental features Castro and colleagues listed for H. antecessor have also been identified in the Middle Pleistocene of North Africa; this would mean H. antecessor is a junior synonym of " Homo mauritanicus ", i. e., the Gran Dolina and Tighennif humans should be classified into the latter. In 2007 Castro and colleagues studied the fossils, and found

16456-504: The same size as each other in ATD6-56 and the medial is larger in ATD6-22, whereas the lateral is commonly larger in modern humans. The lateral facet encroaches onto a straight flat area as opposed to being limited to a defined vastus notch, an infrequent condition among any human species. The phalanges and metatarsals of the foot are comparable to those of later humans, but the big toe bone

16592-673: The severe loss of diversity occurred during and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) rather than just during the out-of-Africa migration". In contrast, Post-LGM hunter-gatherers in Europe displayed the lowest "ever observed" genetic diversity. The woman is estimated to be around 34,000 years old and unrelated to the earlier 40,000 year old Peștera cu Oase individuals. Anatomically modern humans Early modern human ( EMH ), or anatomically modern human ( AMH ), are terms used to distinguish Homo sapiens (the only extant Hominina species) that are anatomically consistent with

16728-399: The side nearest the neck) in front view is on par with that of Neanderthals, but the distal curvature (on the shoulder side) is much more pronounced. The sternum is narrow. The acromion (that extends over the shoulder joint) is small compared to those of modern humans. The shoulder blade is similar to all Homo with a typical human body plan, indicating H. antecessor was not as skilled

16864-406: The skull anatomy is unknown; H. heidelbergensis is known from roughly the same time and region; and because the type specimen was a child (the supposedly characteristic features could have disappeared with maturity.) Such restructuring of the face, they argued, can also be caused by regional climatic adaptation rather than speciation. In 2009 American palaeoanthropologist Richard Klein stated he

17000-517: The skull) is convex, like in more derived species. The brain volume of ATD6-15, perhaps belonging to an 11-year-old, may have been 1,000 cc (61 cu in) or more based on frontal bone measurements. This is within the range of variation for modern humans. The notably large adult clavicle specimen ATD6-50, assumed male based on absolute size, was estimated to have stood 162.3–186.8 cm (5 ft 4 in – 6 ft 2 in), mean of 174.5 cm (5 ft 9 in), based on

17136-426: The soft tissue around the joint due to high intensity activity, or a fracture of the left femur and/or tibia (that is unconfirmable since neither bone is associated with this individual). The right fourth metatarsal ATD6-124 has a 25.8 mm × 8 mm (1.02 in × 0.31 in) length x width lesion on the medial (toward the midline of the bone) side consistent with a march fracture . This condition

17272-521: The species was formally described in 1997 as the last common ancestor of modern humans and Neanderthals , supplanting the more conventional H. heidelbergensis in this position. H. antecessor has since been reinterpreted as an offshoot from the modern human line, although probably one branching off just before the modern human/Neanderthal split. Despite being so ancient, the face is unexpectedly similar to that of modern humans rather than other archaic humans—namely in its overall flatness as well as

17408-496: The teeth, such as by using the mouth as a third hand to carry around items. A similar condition was also reported for the later Sima de los Huesos remains also at the Sierra de Atapuerca site. The left knee bone ATD6-56 has a 4.7 mm × 15 mm (0.19 in × 0.59 in) height x breadth osteophyte (bone spur) on the inferior (lower) margin. Osteophytes normally form as a response to stress due to osteoarthritis , which can result from old age or improper loading of

17544-667: The tooth ATD6-92. The 2003 to 2007 excavations revealed a much more intricate stratigraphy than previously thought, and TD6 was divided into three subunits spanning thirteen layers and nine sedimentary facies (bodies of rock distinctive from adjacent bodies). Human presence is recorded in subunits 1   and 2, and in facies A, D1, and F. Randomly orientated scattered bones were deposited in Facies D1 of layer TD6.2.2 (TD6 subunit 2, layer 2) and Facies F of layers TD6.2.2 and TD6.2.3, but in Facies D they seem to have been conspicuously clumped into

17680-426: The tooth formation rates in chimpanzees (lower estimate) and modern humans (upper). The molars are hardly worn at all, which means the individual died soon after the tooth erupted, and that first molar eruption occurred at roughly this age. The age is within the range of variation of modern humans, and this developmental landmark can debatably be correlated with life history. If the relation is true, H. antecessor had

17816-735: The unipolar longitudinal method, flaking off only one side of a core , probably to compensate for the lack of preplanning, opting to knap irregularly shaped and thus poorer quality pebbles. Most of the stone tools resided in the lower (older) half of TD6.2, with 831 stone tools. The knappers made use of a much more diverse array of materials (although most commonly chert ), which indicates they were moving farther out in search of better raw materials. The Sierra de Atapuerca features an abundance and diversity of mineral outcroppings suitable for stone tool manufacturing, in addition to chert and quartz namely quartzite, sandstone , and limestone , which could all be collected within only 3 km (1.9 mi) of

17952-468: The vegetation is consistent with the cooler beginning or end of an interglacial. H. antecessor probably migrated from the Mediterranean shore into inland Iberia when colder glacial periods were transitioning to warmer interglacials, and warm grasslands dominated, vacating the region at any other time. They may have followed water bodies while migrating, in the case of Sierra de Atapuerca, most likely

18088-470: Was also at one point considered to be a subspecies, H. s. neanderthalensis . H. heidelbergensis , dated 600,000 to 300,000 years ago, has long been thought to be a likely candidate for the last common ancestor of the Neanderthal and modern human lineages. However, genetic evidence from the Sima de los Huesos fossils published in 2016 seems to suggest that H. heidelbergensis in its entirety should be included in

18224-458: Was coined by Linnaeus , 1758 . The Latin noun homō (genitive hominis ) means "human being", while the participle sapiēns means "discerning, wise, sensible". The species was initially thought to have emerged from a predecessor within the genus Homo around 300,000 to 200,000 years ago. A problem with the morphological classification of "anatomically modern" was that it would not have included certain extant populations. For this reason,

18360-546: Was confirmed as being a female. A full genome study conducted on the remains in 2021 revealed that the Peștera Muierii woman is related to modern Europeans, but not a direct ancestor. The woman also displays close genetic affinities to other Paleolithic Europeans, such as Kostenki-14 . It was also found that the Paleolithic European hunter-gatherers displayed higher genetic diversity than expected, "demonstrating that

18496-497: Was skeptical that H. antecessor was ancestral to H. heidelbergensis , interpreting H. antecessor as "an offshoot of H. ergaster [from Africa] that disappeared after a failed attempt to colonize southern Europe". Similarly, in 2012, British physical anthropologist Chris Stringer considered H. antecessor and H. heidelbergensis to be two different lineages rather than them having an ancestor/descendant relationship. In 2013, anthropologist Sarah Freidline and colleagues suggested

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