The Atapuerca Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Ibeas de Juarros, 3 km from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites.
The Foundation was set up to support a scientific research programme focused on human evolution: the Atapuerca Project. The Sierra de Atapuerca sites gained major scientific and social prominence in 1992 with the discovery of the Sima de los Huesos fossils, and two years later, ancient human remains (over 900,000 years old) which defined a new species, Homo antecessor. In 2000, Sierra de Atapuerca was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. On July 26 1999, the Atapuerca Foundation was constituted by the three co-directors, Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell, entrusted with a mission to support and publicise the Atapuerca Project. On 7 July 2009, HRH Queen Sofía officially opened the Head Office of the Atapuerca Foundation in Ibeas de Juarros (Burgos).