Archaeological site of Atapuerca
The Archaeological Site of Atapuerca is a group of archaeological and paleontological sites that contain some of the oldest human remains in the Iberian Peninsula. In the Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, remains of Homo antecessor dating back at least 800,000 years are found in the Gran Dolina site, and in the Sima del Elefante other a species of Homo without specifying and 1.2 million years old. These remains were uncovered when a railway line was built in the 19th century.
It has been declared a Space of Natural Interest, an Asset of Cultural Interest and a World Heritage Site as a result of the exceptional archaeological and paleontological findings that it houses inside, among which the fossil testimonies of at least four species stand out other than hominids: Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
Geographic location
It is bounded by the Arlanzón River to the south, the Vena River to the north and the Sierra de la Demanda, foothills of the Iberian system, to the east. It forms part of the so-called Bureba corridor, an important and historic passage between the Ebro valley and the Duero basin. From the orographic point of view it is a modest formation, with a maximum elevation of 1079 meters above sea level at the Summit of San Vicente. It is made up of Cretaceous limestone covered by significant masses of holm oaks (Quercus ilex), gall oaks (Quercus faginea) and, above all, gorse scrub (Genista scorpius ), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), lavender (Lavandula spica), thyme (Thymus sp.) and sage (Salvia sp.).
The paso de la Bureba has been used throughout its existence as the main pass into the Iberian Peninsula from Europe. As already indicated, it joins the Ebro valley, Mediterranean slope, with the Duero valley, Atlantic slope, while it is located on the route that, coming from the Pyrenean passes, goes to the other peninsular places, well to the west (Galicia and Portugal) and to the south (the Castilian plateau, Andalusia, Extremadura, southern Portugal and Africa). One of the main Roman roads passed through here just like the Camino de Santiago in the Middle Ages, the main road N-I at the end of the XIX century and, today, the AP-1 motorway.
It has not only been the human being, in any of its species, who has used it: the fauna and flora have also chosen it in their expansions. This has given rise to an important presence of diverse fauna and flora and to continuous human occupation for more than 1,200,000 years, aided by the fertility of the land and the abundance of resources.
Geology
The mountain range is made up of a small hill —corresponding to a tumbled anticline (NE vergence and NNW-SSE Iberian direction)— made up of limestone, sand and sandstone of marine origin belonging to the Late Cretaceous (between 80 and 100 million years), covered by the materials contributed by the Arlanzón river, which has formed numerous alluvial terraces in the Quaternary period. The highest part of this hill is completely flat, indicating that it has suffered strong erosion for several million years.
Around the sierra, and on this anticline, there are materials of more modern continental origin, Cenozoic, from 25 to 5 million years ago. Its components are conglomerates of limestone and red clay from the lower Oligocene-Miocene, product of erosion of the limestone anticline. Above these conglomerates marl, clay and gypsum were deposited. The stratigraphic succession culminates with the marly and limestone packages with flint, typical of the ancient lacustrine environment with which the filling of the Duero sedimentary basin was filled in the upper Miocene.
During the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene, the Arlanzón fluvial valley began to become embedded, creating fifteen levels of highly asymmetric Quaternary terraces as it passed through the mountains.
The rise of the river waters and the limestone structure have given rise to a karstic complex with a multitude of caves, many of them open to the outside for various reasons (landslides, cuts...). Different sediments have been deposited through these openings over the years: dirt, dust, pollen, animal remains, excrement..., until, in many cases, they clogged the entrances and, in others, they have been blocked. by subsequent collapses, preserving the interior intact until new openings arose. This has allowed the conservation of hominid remains and fossils in the numerous caves under the Atapuerca forests, protecting them from sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
Cultural Space of the Sierra de Atapuerca
The Governing Council of the Junta de Castilla y León, at its meeting on July 26, 2007, agreed to declare the "Sierra de Atapuerca" in Burgos.
Atapuerca is the first Cultural Space declared in the Community. The figure is used under the new Heritage Law of Castilla y León and in line with the new strategies of the PAHIS Plan 2004-2012, which propose the enhancement of large territorial spaces with cultural value, with a view to their protection and promotion. of the sustainable development of the populations in which it is located.
History
This cavity is already mentioned in documentation from the X century of the Monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña. Perhaps the first extensive mention of the Atapuerca cave is found in the Crónica burlesca del emperador Carlos V, by Don Francés de Zúñiga, who extensively documents a visit to it "where a battle took place. of King Sancho of Castilla and King García of Navarra", carried out in 1527 by several court nobles on the occasion of legends referring to the existence of ghosts in it. That it was known is also demonstrated by the existence of various graffiti dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Pedro Sampayo and Mariano Zuaznávar, in their Description with plans of the cave called Atapuerca (Burgos, 1868), say that they had even seen inscriptions from the XIII, some with Islamic characters.
First discoveries in the 19th century
The first systematic explorations of the Cueva Mayor karst complex date back to the mid-XIX century. However, this cave was already known and visited for a long time before. In 1863, Felipe Ariño requested the concession to own the cave. Five years later, in 1868, a detailed description of the cave was published by Pedro Sampayo and Mariano Zuaznávar, in which they described for the first time what is currently known as Sima de los Huesos. This has a second reference in 1890 in a lawsuit to obtain a permit for mining exploration of other areas of Cueva Mayor. Parallel to these first investigations, a multitude of looting and destruction of its interior take place.
Mining railway
At the end of the 19th century, a time when Spain was joining the Industrial Revolution, a mining railway line was built from the Sierra de la Demanda to Burgos (specifically up to the link with the Burgos-Burgos- Bilbao). In those years, the Basque steel mills required a large quantity of iron ore and coal, more than the deposits of León and Asturias could offer at that time. The Sierra de la Demanda had potential mines of iron ore and coal. However, there was no type of transport that could send it to the blast furnaces dedicated to smelting located in Vizcaya. To get around this problem, in 1896 permission to build that narrow-gauge railway was granted to Richard Preece Williams' newly created company The Sierra Company Limited. This company was in charge of the journey from Monterrubio de la Demanda to Villafría, as well as the investment in various mines located in towns such as Pineda de la Sierra, Riocavado de la Sierra, Barbadillo de Herreros, Monterrubio de la Demanda itself, and Valle de Valdelaguna.. The railway work, in which 1,500 workers participated, covered a total of 65 kilometers and was completed in 1901, five years after it began.
At first this route did not cross the Sierra de Atapuerca. However, and with no known explanation, the railway route crossed it on its southwest side through a deep trench half a kilometer long and a depth that, at its highest level, reaches almost twenty meters. This created gorge, which added an extra kilometer of distance compared to the initial plans, could be made to commercially exploit the limestone of the sierra, since it had been used as a construction material since the Middle Ages. This trench, in its path, crossed numerous caves filled with Pleistocene sediments (with bones and lithic industry, although no one noticed them) exposing them to light and clearly showing their stratification.
The commitment with the company was that its character would not be exclusively mining; as a condition for receiving the subsidy from the Provincial Council, The Sierra Company Limited had to undertake to transport passengers and merchandise (for this purpose, said company acquired four steam locomotives and various rolling stock). However, the line never became financially consolidated, due to the high prices imposed by Ferrocarriles del Norte. Around 1910 the railway stopped working, and in 1917 the Vasco-Castellana company, heir to The Sierra Company Limited, went bankrupt and disappeared permanently. Bridges, embankments, tunnels and stations of that railway are still preserved today. In 1950 the railway trench was used as a quarry, which negatively affected the deposits, destroying part of them.
First campaigns
In 1964, Professor Francisco Jordá Cerdá began the first excavation campaigns that would stop shortly after. Eight years later, a group of speleologists, the Edelweiss Speleological Group, discovered the so-called Flint Gallery, which contains remains of funeral rituals and paintings from the Bronze Age.
In 1973, Professor J. M. Apellániz began excavation campaigns at El Portalón de Cueva Mayor. There were eleven campaigns.
Current study
In 1976, the mining engineer Trinidad de Torres Pérez-Hidalgo (Trino), who was doing his doctoral thesis on fossil bears at the time, went to the paleontologist Emiliano Aguirre with various human remains found in one of the sites in the Sierra Burgos: the Sima de los Huesos. In 1978, Aguirre began directing the excavations. In 1980, excavations began in the Gallery, which would last for more than a decade. In 1984 systematic excavations began at Sima de los Huesos.
In 1990, Emiliano Aguirre retired and the management passed to the team formed by Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell Roura. Since then, lithic instruments from the Archaic Lower Paleolithic have been found, the most primitive, at the base of the Gran Dolina (dating back about 900,000 years) and shortly after, in 1992, several skulls were found in the Sima de los Huesos, among them the famous skull number 5, baptized as Miguelón in honor of Miguel Induráin, which gives international and scientific relevance to the site, making it essential in studies of human evolution.
The years 1994 and 1995 would leave a rich record of Archaic Lower Paleolithic tools along with human remains, all dating back 800,000 years, confirming a very early human presence in Europe. The following year it is confirmed, through the study of the marks on the bones, that ritual cannibalism was practiced; this is the oldest reference on cannibalism in Europe. The excavations of the Sima del Elefante begin.
The 1997 excavations are of great importance for the site, since they discovered a set of remains of human beings who lived 800,000 years ago. This excavation contributed a new human species which they named Homo antecessor, an ancestor of Homo sapiens emigrating from Africa. These finds constituted the oldest human remains in Western Europe., since other remains had only been found in the Caucasus, belonging to Homo ergaster, which arrived in Europe about 1.6 million years ago. The investigations receive several prestigious awards, including the Prince of Asturias and the Social Sciences of the Junta de Castilla y León.
The year 1998 would provide evidence that the remains found in the Sima de los Huesos, initially assigned to Homo heidelbergensis, belong to human beings, who in addition to having the capacity for abstraction and symbology the mystical problems inherent to the human being. This is confirmed by the discovery of an unused biface tool (mode 2) made of a highly prized material, the so-called Excalibur, whose presence has been interpreted as a possible homage to a member of the group buried there.
In 1999, excavations began in the Cueva de El mirador and the following year it was declared a World Heritage Site, while in the Sima del Elefante there were remains of lithic utensils dating back a million years. years. A new species of rodent is described, Microtus (Allophaiomys) lavocati, and the excavations of the Portalón de Cueva Mayor are resumed. In 1999, intensive systematic surveys of the Sierra de Atapuerca environment also began, with the discovery up to 2007 of nearly 200 open-air archaeological sites from the Pleistocene and Holocene.
The Gran Dolina would produce a new species of cave bear, Ursus dolinensis, whose remains would be found at level TD4.
Sierra de Atapuerca deposits
In the second half of the XIX century, some finds were made that indicated the archaeological richness of the area. In the last quarter of the 20th century, in-depth and systematic studies were not carried out that determined this set of prehistoric sites as one of the most important in Europe and one of the most relevant in the world, where discoveries have been made that have changed the recorded history of humanity.. Remains have been found from a chronology belonging to the Lower Pleistocene (older than a million years) to the Holocene (current time), with data on fauna, flora and climate. This archaeological complex has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco (2000) and has received the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research (1997).
The deposits are exceptional due to the abundance of fossil records, their good conservation and scientific importance. The lithic tools that have been found cover all technological stages, from the most primitive forms of stone carving to those that belong to the Bronze Age.
As for the fauna, a new species of cave bear has been found, named Ursus dolinensis. The most important finding is that of human remains. There are them in several deposits, something that is not usual. Among them have been found the remains of the oldest ancestor of Europe, Homo antecessor, the last common species among Neanderthals, Homo sapiens and those of the pre-Neanderthal Homo heidelbergensis.
The most relevant sites are discussed below, as well as the ones that have provided more information to understand prehistory. Notable among them are those located in the Railway Trench (such as Sima del Elefante, Galería and Gran Dolina), and those belonging to the Cueva Mayor/Cueva del Silo karstic system (such as Portalón, Galería del Fílex and Sima de los Huesos).). Besides, there is the Cueva del Mirador, a cave located in the extreme southeast of the sierra, and with no apparent relationship with the aforementioned karstic system. There are more than 50 external sites located (such as the Valley of the Orchids and Hundidero; the latter has recently begun to be excavated) and a large number of megalithic monuments (dolmens) in the area, both in the mountains and nearby, which which testifies that the Atapuerca complex is very extensive, not limited only to what refers to the railway trench and its surroundings.
Railway Trench
Sima del Elefante (TE)
The site of the Sima del Elefante, or Elephant Trench (TE), as it is also known, is located in the Railroad Trench, being the first site we come across when walking from the southern entrance of the trench. In the context of the Cueva Mayor/Cueva del Silo karstic complex, it is located at the end of the Lower Gallery, and the sedimentological relationship between both sites is still unknown. It must constitute a karstic gallery more than 15 meters high and 18 meters wide. It is a cave filled with sediment, which was discovered when the trench was dug at the end of the XIX century, leaving outcrops of sediment in both walls, being those located on the east wall on which the investigations are carried out. Its name is due to the appearance in 2001 of some fossils that were initially attributed to elephants, although later research showed that they belonged to rhinos. However, in later campaigns an astragalus was discovered that did belong to an elephant, confirming the presence of these animals in their fossil deposits.
It is the site of the trench that later began to be excavated in a systematic way. The 21 meters of sediments that it has cover the entire period of human occupation of the sierra corresponding to the Pleistocene. Its lower levels are the oldest in the entire sierra —they are close to the Jaramillo paleomagnetic subchronon—, and they are located even 3.5 meters below the current level of the trench, with an age of more than a million years (Lower Pleistocene). Faunal remains have been found in these levels, accompanied by lithic instruments, demonstrating the presence of hominids in an era prior to that of Homo antecessor of Gran Dolina (about 780,000 years). In addition, in some animal bone remains, cut marks have been found produced by the contact of the lithic instrument and the bone at the time of descarnation, so that certain aspects of the diet of those hominids can be inferred. On the other hand, lithic instruments of the Mousterian type or mode 3 have appeared in the upper levels, associated with Neanderthals, together with fossils of horses and deer.
In March 2008, new remains of Homo found in this site were disclosed; it is a part of a mandible of an individual of around 20 years old and 32 flint tools of the Olduvayense type (mode 1); they have been dated at 1.2 million years old, much older than the original remains of Gran Dolina, which considerably regresses the record of the presence of hominids in Europe. The remains, which were initially identified as Homo antecessor, have later been assigned to Homo sp. (belonging to the genus Homo but without specifying the species), and probably belong to a new species yet to be defined. The mandible presents characteristics that approximate it to those of the oldest Homo from Africa and Dmanisi (Georgia) but with features that differentiate them.
Stratigraphic and chronological sequence of TE
Sima del Elefante is divided into a sequence of 21 stratigraphic units, and at least three phases of sedimentary fill, being able to distinguish them according to their chronology, color, texture and origin of contributions, classifying them from the bottom to the top, from the oldest to the most modern.
- Phase 1: its sediments belong to the Inferior Pleistocene, since the paleomagnetic studies performed at the E-8 and E-12 levels give an inverse polarity attributable to the Matuyama cron; according to the biostratetigraphic studies, based on the presence of certain typical rodents of that geological stage — as Microtus (Allophaiomys) chalinei, Microtus (Allophaiomys) sp. nov., Microtus (Iberomys) aft. huescarensis, Ungaromys nanus, Pliomys episcopalis, Mimomys sp., Castillomys rivas, Apodemus sp., Eliomys quercinus, Myoxus sp., and Castor fiber- also confirmed. This phase has a depth of nine meters, and is affected by fractures and sinks of all infra-adjacent galleries to deposits. It is made up of a high number debris flows from the south, distinguishing seven levels:
- E-8: is the lowest level of the sequence, with a very dark color. It has a lot of microvertebrate fossils and a great abundance of organic matter, mainly due to bat excrements.
- E-9: it has a succession of detritic threads of subangulous stones, with the cortical zone modified by dissolution, with a dark clay matrix. There are more plastic clay bands without stones, interspersed at the level. It has a lot of macro and microvertebrate remains. At this level part of a jaw has been found Homo antecessor and 32 silex tools, with an antiquity of 1.2 million years.
- E-10: is a level of blocks and stones, without apparent internal structure, with a dark red clay matrix. Fossils of medium-sized animals appear in anatomical connection.
- E-11: is a heterogeneous level, with a mixture of different materials, including margous stones.
- E-12: level formed by a succession of detritic gravity flow tails that erode the previous level. It has a change of lateral facies, fast and marked. At the proximal end there are large blocks on each other, decreasing the size of the same in the middle, more clay. At the distal end, prismatic clays abound, highlighting the low presence of stones.
- E-13: formed by gravas of the same dimensions, with a crossestritification.
- E-14: formed by a succession of detritic tails of gravity flow, with strong lateral changes in the facies. 3 levels are differentiated within this unit:
- Lower level: formed by a herring matrix, with medium nails.
- Intermediate level: formed by alternating laminar clays with detritic elements.
- Higher level: formed by a dark clay matrix cast, with large stones, which decrease in dimensions in distal parts.
- Phase 2: chronologically belongs to the Middle Pleistocene. All the levels that make it are erosive, and as a whole, can reach 9 meters. 5 levels are distinguished:
- E-15: erodes the top of E-14, giving rise to a structure of cut and fill which reaches E-9 level. This line of gravas and blocks, with a clear margosa matrix, is introduced into the cavity from the south.
- E-16: has the same entry point of material as the E-15 level. It has different detritic flows with a reddish clay matrix. In the central-distal part we find small laminated gravas, which indicate a deposit of relatively organized water currents.
- E-17: has a thickness of 20-25 cm. It is a sequence of sandy, massive and very pale carbonates, interspersed between the calcitic speleothemes. It has a chemical sedimentation of native fine nails, indicating the absence of external inputs.
- E-18, E-19 and E-20: formed by plastic sedimentation of gravity flow. It has medium and thick gravel, with lutitas and blocks, being on the lower side. The material inputs come from both the south and the north, presenting a clear matrix. E-19 presents very abundant nails in the central part, with reddish colour, as well as evidence of the presence of macro and microvertebrates associated with the lytic industry.
- Phase 3: your chronology is in the Superior Pleistocene. It has a single level, E-21. It is formed by a detritic flow by gravity, with gravas and blocks, and very little matrix. It has a vertical duct in the south of the central section.
Gallery and Covacha de los Zarpazos (TG-TN-TZ)
The Galería site is located in the railway trench, it was the first systematically excavated site inside the trench. It is an underground gallery (section TG) that opens to the outside through a chimney (section TN) in the shape of a chasm. The entrance seems to have been in the left area, known as Covacha de los Zarpazos (section TZ).
The collapse of the roof of the gallery was what formed the chimney, becoming a natural trap where numerous animals fell (or were pushed by hunters), which were then taken advantage of by humans (probably hunters) and other carnivores.
The Galería deposits span a chronology between 200,000 and 400,000 years and five sedimentary phases (TGI-TGV) have been identified, with intense human presence in the third phase. In this phase, up to thirteen different soils of human occupation have been located, in which numerous lithic tools of mode 2 (Acheulean) have been found with remains of deer, horses, bison and rhinoceroses. On the animal bones found there are tooth marks from bears, lions, foxes and lynxes.
A skull fragment belonging to Homo heidelbergensis has also been found.
Gran Dolina (TD)
The Gran Dolina site is located inside the railway trench and is the best known, where the first remains of the species Homo antecessor appeared. It has 18 meters of sediments that cover a temporal sequence that goes from one million years ago (at level TD1) to 200,000 years ago (at level TD11). In these 18 meters of sediment, 11 stratigraphic levels have been differentiated.
In the lower levels, remains of carnivorous animals have been found, such as the saber-toothed tiger and the spotted hyena (both in their oldest record in Europe) as well as a new species of bear, ancestor of the cave bear, which has been named Ursus dolinensis, in reference to its place of discovery. Lithic mode 1 stone tools have been found at level TD4 as well as at the base of Sima del elefante dating back one million years.
In 1994, the remains of what would later be described as a new human species, Homo antecessor, one of the oldest inhabitants of Europe and from Africa, were found at level TD6. The study of the bones of this find revealed traces of cuts made by a human tool, that is, it was determined that these ancient inhabitants of the Gran Dolina practiced cannibalism. The next level, TD7, shows evidence of the magnetic reversal of the Earth's field whose beginning coincides with what is known as the Matuyama-Brunhes limit and defines the border between the Lower and Middle Pleistocene some 780,000 years ago and a short polarity episode. 900,000 years ago (note that the Homo antecessor fossils are in the lower level, so they are older than the magnetic reversal). The TD10 level, dated between 450,000 and 200,000 years old contains remains of the lithic industry of technical modes 2 and 3. In one of its sublevels (TD10.2) a large concentration of anthropically processed bison bones has been identified as a result of the use of the cavity as a hunting ground by hominids.
Remains of Homo antecessor have continued to be found, confirming the importance and richness of this site. New species of animals have been discovered in its sediments, such as the bear species Ursus dolinensis and the shrew Dolinasorex glyphodon.
Ghost Cave
The Ghost Cave is located next to the Sima del Elefante and its existence was disclosed in the summer of 2016. It has been estimated that it could provide the oldest fossil record of the Atapuerca sites, with sediments from 1.5 years ago million years ago, and which was closed to the outside about 400,000 years ago. Excavation began in the summer of 2017.
Major Cave
Chasm of Bones
The Sima de los Huesos site is a small chamber located at the base of a 13-meter-deep well that is found in the deepest part of the Cueva Mayor. A large number of magnificently preserved animal and human bones have been found in it. Sediments with human remains from this site date from at least 430,000 years ago, that is, from the Middle Pleistocene.
What makes this site important is the large number of human remains found, more than 6,500 fossil remains, which belong to a group of at least 28 individuals (NMI) of a single paleopopulation of the species Homo heidelbergensis (considered ancestor of Homo neanderthalensis ) of very different ages and both sexes. These remains represent more than 90% of the human fossils recovered for the Middle Pleistocene from around the world.
Of the human remains recovered, seventeen skulls stand out, among which is skull number 5, which is the best preserved Homo heidelbergensis skull in the world and is popularly known as &# 34;Miguelon" in honor of Miguel Induráin. There are a large number of bones of all kinds, from the pelvis, like the so-called Elvis, to the ear bones. "Elvis" is the most complete pelvis in the fossil record. It belonged to a male individual, 175 cm tall and 95 kilograms in weight. The conclusion has been reached by studying it that Homo heidelbergensis was as tall as us, but more robust. The pelvic cavity was larger, facilitating childbirth in women.
It is believed that this was a place of human burial and worship of the deceased, only one lithic tool has been found among all the remains, this tool, a hand ax, is unused and is made of red quartzite; it was found in 1998 and received the name Excalibur. Excalibur is considered to be a gift to one of the deceased buried in this place, which would indicate the existence of a symbolic and reflective mind, concerned with the eternal problems of life and death and with the capacity for feelings. This marks Homo heidelbergensis as a complete human being, no longer physically, but spiritually.
The taphonomic study of a small part of the fractures found in the bones, typical of the biostratinomic phase, indicates that they could be due to strong impacts from falling bodies from the thirteen meters of free fall that the chasm has, while the fractures in the long bones are compatible with breaks, this time postdepositional, typical of collective burials.
However, the clearest proof that the accumulation of human remains was intentional are the perimortem lesions on Skull number 17, detected in 2015 after its restoration: two holes in the upper part of the skull, caused with the same sharp object and necessarily fatal, indicating that the individual suffered a violent death and that his remains were thrown into the abyss as he was already a corpse.
Among the remains of carnivores found there are a large number of bear remains of the species Ursus deningeri, more than 180 individuals.
This site, due to the findings made in it, is unique in the world.
The Gate
The site of El Portalón located at the entrance of Cueva Mayor has allowed us to document a very important part of the Bronze Age, between 3690 and 2900 years ago. Decorated pottery is relevant, with more than 400 iconographic motifs, and different bone and bronze tools, as well as bone, horn and ivory ornaments.
The site has been excavated in a survey until reaching the Upper Pleistocene, this with little anthropic impact, but the most relevant occupations are from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age.
In the skeleton of a child, directly dated by 14C between 5030 and 5020 years calibrated before the present, evidence of rickets and scurvy have been detected, metabolic diseases of which there are very few documented cases in other European sites of similar age, which provides clues about the poor diet or health conditions of these populations.
Flint Gallery
The Flint Gallery was discovered in 1964 by the Burgos Edelweiss Speleological Group. It offers spectacular vestiges of the Bronze Age. It has remained closed since a time very close to that time, which has allowed an exceptional conservation of the soil where human activities as well as rock art took place. In one of its chambers, a multitude of human and animal remains have been found with stone and bone tools as well as ceramics, which shows an activity of a ritual nature. There are abundant paintings and engravings on its walls, many of the painted symbols also appear on ceramics.
Gallery of statues
In the 2017 campaign, a phalanx of Homo neandertalensis was discovered during sediment washing.
Other sites in the Atapuerca complex
Viewpoint Cave
The Mirador site is the furthest from the archaeological complex and remains belonging to the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age have been found. The discovery of a burial of up to 6 individuals of different ages and sexes, dated to 3670 years, indicates that this place was used as a burial cave.
Valley of Orchids
The Orchid Valley site is a site that is not in a cave, but located outside. It is about 27,000 or 30,000 years old, belongs to the Upper Pleistocene, and there is no record of other occupations. Its location is due to the good provision of resources and the domain of a certain area of the territory.
Cultural sequence from lithic artifacts
By studying the manufacturing techniques of stone tools, which is known as the lithic industry, it is possible to date the finds found in the different deposits.
In Atapuerca one has been completed, the sequence of prehistoric technological evolution that shows that the Atapuerca caves have been occupied by all the cultures that have existed in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene in Europe. If a relatively complete series of mode 2 or Acheulean has been established at the Gallery site; in that of Gran Dolina, lithic industry of Mode 1 or Olduvayense and Mode 3 or Mousterian has been identified.
In Gran Dolina, an attempt is being made to complete the entire technological evolution of the Pleistocene, documenting all the cultures that have existed in the Lower Paleolithic and Middle Paleolithic in Europe. The following phases are recognized:
- Technical mode 1 or Olduvayense: According to the researchers of the Atapuerca deposits, the industry of Mode 1 is the oldest and is characterized by simpler tools: lacquers without retouching and carved songs, a sylex lasca, dated at least a million years, was found in the campaign of the year 2000 in the site of the Elefante Sima. Parts have also been located with almost a million years at the TD4 and TD5 levels of the Grand Dolina, although the most significant series corresponds to TD6, a stratum with about 780 000 years, in which poll appeared 268 utensils and also the remains of Homo antecessor. Pieces of quartz, limestone, quartz and sylex were found: songs without size (manuports, percutores...), carved songs, lascas, denticulates and raederas. The nuclei are, above all, disorganized (multi-facial orthogonal method), but there are also polarized (longitudinal orthogonal method) and only a few centripetals. For all this, researchers working in the Atapuerca mountain range believe that Gran Dolina is the first deposit of the European Pleistocene that has the entire sequence of the evolution of the first pieces of industry.
.png) Size piece (core) of the TD4 level Grand Dolina, he's about 970 000 years old. | .jpg) Canto carved from the TD6 level of Gran Dolina, dated in about 780 000 years. |
- Technical mode 2 or Achelense: It appears, basically at the levels of the site of the Gallery, with an antiquity that ranges between 350 000 and 128 000 years. Most of the pieces correspond to successive levels of occupation, very sporadic (short duration), of TG10 and TG11, highlighting the sylex parts, although there are all kinds of raw materials.
Simplifying much, in Mode 2, the pieces are worked radially, so the most characteristic types are the biphaz and centripetal nuclei; there are also clefts and stylings, as well as strips, tips and denticulates. In fact, the cores were mostly exploited through organized extractions (centripets and parallels). In Atapuerca, bifaces evolve into a more elongated morphology, with an increasingly flexible size. Culturally we leave an intermediate position within the Achelense until we reach a Superior Achelense to the ceiling of the sequence.
.jpg) Raedera de cuarcita Gallery TG11 level. | .jpg) Achelense bifaz of Gallery's TG10 level. |
- Technical mode 3 or Musteriense Ancient: again we return to the Grand Dolina field, where it is ensured that the TD10 industry points to the transition between the Achelense periods (“technical mode 2”) and Musteriense (“technical mode 3”), at the TD10 level and at about 350 000 years. Above, at the TD11 and TD12 levels, with about 300 000 years old, there are utensils on small and medium-sized lacquers, and rather standardized centripetal extritions cores. For what is appreciated in Atapuerca, in Mode 3, humans learned to draw from the same volume of stone greater amount of edge. This technique is associated with the Neanderthals in Europe.
 Nucleus of the TD11 level of Gran Dolina, dated in more than 300 000 years. |  The sylex. Gallery. |
The chrono-cultural range is still being completed, with finds that could extend this sequence to the end of the Pleistocene in the Portalón de la Cueva Mayor, in the Cueva del Mirador and in the Valle de las Orquídeas.
It is quite difficult to correlate these data —collected in the different sites of the Atapuerca karstic complex— with others from open-air sites; but, only Atapuerca allows to attest with scientific solidity the human presence throughout the Pleistocene, and only Atapuerca can mark it with absolute dates.
Team
The Atapuerca research team currently publishes in prestigious international scientific journals, such as Nature, PNAS and Science, and are recognized International in the field of paleoanthropology.
Scientific impact
Atapuerca is the oldest and most numerous set of remains in Europe. It has been considered a Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since the year 2000, and the discoveries that have been made in it have had an enormous scientific impact.
The set of deposits has been declared a «Spanish Geological Site of International Relevance» (Geosite) by the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain, with the name «VP006: Atapuerca», within from the category "vertebrate sites of the Spanish Pliocene-Pleistocene".
For one thing, some finds date back 800,000 years, and even up to 1.2 million years. This changed our theories about who was the first to settle in Europe and when he occupied it, where he came from and what his characteristics were. On the other hand, some remains stand out for forming a collective, that is, they did not come from isolated individuals. This gives scientists the opportunity to reconstruct the life of a group of hominids, numbering more than 30 members, 300,000 years ago.
Economic impact and demographic development
The municipality of Atapuerca has grown significantly at an economic, demographic and social level due to the impact generated from the presence of the archaeological site and its associated services. Indeed, 15% of the active population has a job related to tourism, which reversed the depopulation of the region, growing and rejuvenating the population (with an average age of 42 years).
Pop Culture
The novel The footprint of evil (2019) by Manuel Ríos San Martín is set in the Atapuerca site.
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