Sima del Elefante

During the 2007 dig at Sima del Elefante, the Atapuerca Research Team discovered a human jawbone dating from more than 1,200,000 years ago. The jawbone appeared in association with Oldowan flint tools (over 1,200,000 BP). The site is very close to Gran Dolina, where the first Homo antecessor bones were discovered. It is the oldest European known to date. In March 2008, the prestigious science journal Nature published the conclusions reached by the Atapuerca Research Team, led by Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Cabonell, on the basis of this find in the hills of Burgos. The article is entitled “The first hominin of Europe”. Initial analysis suggests it may be an ancient representative of the Homo antecessor species.

This sensational discovery has given us scientific proof of human presence on the European continent more than a million years ago. Research is pointing towards the hypothesis that the Elefante remains should be matched with the species discovered in Gran Dolina. Until fresh, more revealing discoveries emerge, it has been designated the same specific name, Homo antecessor.