Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

The first hominin of Europe

Nature volume 452, pages 465–469 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains1,2,3,4,5. Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain6,7,8. Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene (approximately 1.2–1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites (level TD6 from Gran Dolina9,10,11,12,13), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Geographic setting and geological context.
Figure 2: Mandible ATE9-1.
Figure 3: TE9 lithic tools and faunal remains with cut marks and hominin breakage.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Oms, O. et al. Early human occupation of western Europe: paleomagnetic dates for two paleolithic sites in Spain. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 97, 10666–10670 (2000)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Arzarello, M. et al. Evidence of earliest human occurrence in Europe: the site of Pirro Nord (southern Italy). Naturwissenschaften 94, 107–112 (2007)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Despriée, J. et al. Une occupation humaine au Pléistocène inférieur sur la bordure nord du Massif central. C.R. Palevol. 5, 821–828 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lumley, H., de, A., Krzepkowska, J. & Echassoux, A. L’industrie du Pleistocène inférieur de la grotte du Vallonnet, Roquebrune-Cap Martin, Alpes Maritimes. L’Anthropologie 92, 501–614 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Peretto, C. et al. L’industrie lithique de Ca’Belvedere di Monte Poggiolo: stratigraphie, matière première, typologie, remontages et traces d’utilisation. L’Anthropologie 102, 343–465 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Rosas, A. et al. Le gisement pléistocène de la ‘Sima del Elefante’ (Sierra de Atapuerca, Espagne). L’Anthropologie 105, 301–312 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Rosas, A. et al. The ‘Sima del Elefante’ cave site at Atapuerca (Spain). Estudios Geológicos 62, 327–348 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Parés, J. M. et al. Matuyama-age lithic tools from the Sima del Elefante site, Atapuerca (northern Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 50, 163–169 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Carbonell, E. et al. Lower Pleistocene hominids and artifacts from Atapuerca-TD6 (Spain). Science 269, 826–830 (1995)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Bermúdez de Castro, J. M. et al. A hominid from the Lower Pleistocene of Atapuerca, Spain: possible ancestor to neandertals and modern humans. Science 276, 1392–1395 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Carbonell, E. & Arsuaga, J. L. (eds) The Gran Dolina site: TD6 Aurora Stratum (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 37 (special issue). 309–700 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Carbonell, E. et al. An Early Pleistocene hominin mandible from Atapuerca-TD6, Spain. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 5674–5678 (2005)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Parés, J. M. & Pérez-González, A. Paleomagnetic age for hominid fossils at Atapuerca archaeological site, Spain. Science 269, 830–832 (1995)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Carbonell, E., Rosas, A. & Díez, J. C. (eds) Atapuerca: Ocupaciones Humanas y Paleoecología del Yacimiento de Galería 1–390 (Junta de Castilla y León, Zamora, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Arsuaga, J. L., Martínez, I., Gracia, A., Carretero, J. M. & Carbonell, E. Three new human skulls from the Sima de los Huesos site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. Nature 362, 534–537 (1993)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Arsuaga, J. L., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M. & Carbonell, E. (eds) The Sima de los Huesos hominid Site. J. Hum. Evol. 33 (special issue). 105–421 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Bischoff, J. L. et al. High-resolution U-series dates from the Sima de los Huesos hominids yields 600±∞66 kyrs: implications for the evolution of the early Neanderthal lineage. J. Archaeol. Sci. 34, 763–770 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Rosas, A. & Bermúdez de Castro, J. M. On the taxonomic affinities of the Dmanisi mandible (Georgia). Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 107, 145–162 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wood, B. A., Abbott, S. A. & Uytterschaut, H. Analysis of the dental morphology of Plio-Pleistocene hominids. IV. Mandibular postcanine root morphology. J. Anat. 156, 107–139 (1988)

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Cuenca-Bescós, G. & Rofes, J. Insectívoros (Mammalia), clima y paisaje de los niveles inferiores de Trinchera Elefante (Pleistoceno Inferior, Atapuerca). Zona Arqueol. 4, 150–156 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Rofes, J. & Cuenca-Bescós, G. First evidence of the Soricidae (Mammalia) Asoriculus gibberodon (Petényi, 1864) in the Pleistocene of North Iberia. Riv. Ital. Paleontol. Stratigr. 112, 301–315 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Gliozzi, E. et al. Biochronology of selected mammals, molluscs and ostracods from the Middle Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene in Italy. The state of the art. Riv. Ital. Paleontol. Stratigr. 103, 369–388 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  23. García, N. & Howell, F. C. New discovery of a large mustelid (Carnivora: Mammalia) from the early Pleistocene locality of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Palaeontogr. Abt. A (in the press)

  24. Cuenca-Bescós, G., Laplana, C. & Canudo, J. I. Biochronological implications of the Arvicolidae (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the Lower Pleistocene hominid-bearing level of Trinchera Dolina 6 (TD6, Atapuerca, Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 37, 353–373 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Zagwijn, W. H. Borders and boundaries: a century of stratigraphical research in the Tegelen-Reuver area of Limburg (The Netherlands). Med. Ned. Inst. Toegep. Geowetensch. TNO 60, 19–34 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Huguet, R. Primeras Ocupaciones Humanas en la Península Ibérica: Paleoeconomía de la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos) y la Cuenca de Guádix-Baza (Granada) Durante el Pleistoceno Inferior. PhD thesis, Department of History and History of Art, Univ. Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona. (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Granger, D. E., Fabel, D. & Palmer A. N Pliocene–Pleistocene incision of the Green River, Kentucky, determined from radioactive decay of cosmogenic 26Al and 10Be in Mammoth Cave sediments. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 113, 825–836 (2001)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Stock, G. M., Anderson, R. S. & Finkel, R. C. Pace of landscape evolution in the Sierra Nevada, California, revealed by cosmogenic dating of cave sediments. Geology 32, 193–196 (2004)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Kaifu, Y., Aziz, F. & Baba, H. Hominid mandibular remains from Sangiran: 1952–1986 collection. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 128, 497–519 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Schrenk, F., Bromage, T. G., Betzler, C. G., Ring, U. & Juwayeyi, Y. Oldest Homo and Pliocene biogeography of the Malawi Rift. Nature 365, 833–836 (1993)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Carbonell, E. et al. The Pleistocene site of Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain: a history of the archaeological investigations. J. Hum. Evol. 37, 313–324 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Arsuaga, J. L. et al. Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). The site. J. Hum. Evol. 33, 109–127 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Carbonell, E., Díez, J. C. & Rosas, A. in Atapuerca: Ocupaciones Humanas y Paleoecología del Yacimiento de Galería (eds Carbonell E., Rosas A. & Díez J. C.) 19–26 (Junta de Castilla y León, Zamora, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Carbonell, E., Mosquera, M., Rodríguez, X. P. & Sala, R. The first human settlement of Europe. J. Anthropol. Res. 52, 107–114 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Carbonell, E., Mosquera, M., Rodriguez, X. P., Sala, R. & Van der Made, J. Out of Africa: the dispersal of the earliest technical systems reconsidered. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 18, 119–136 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Carbonell, E. & Rodríguez, X. P. The first human settlement of Mediterranean Europe. C.R. Palevol. 5, 291–298 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Martinón-Torres, M. et al. Dental evidence on the hominin dispersals during the Pleistocene. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 13279–13282 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  38. Carbonell, E. et al. The TD6 level lithic industry from Gran Dolina, Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain): production and use. J. Hum. Evol. 37, 653–693 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Carbonell, E. et al. Structure morphotechnique de l’industrie lithique du Pléistocène inférieur et moyen d’Atapuerca (Burgos, Espagne). L’Anthropologie 105, 259–280 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Márquez, B., Ollé, A., Sala, R. & Vergès, J. M. Perspectives méthodologiques de l’analyse fonctionnelle des ensembles lithiques du Pléistocène inférieur et moyen d’Atapuerca (Burgos, Espagne). L’Anthropologie 105, 281–299 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Díez, C., Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Rosell, J. & Cáceres, I. Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of Aurora Stratum (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 37, 623–652 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Huguet, R. et al. Le gisement de Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Espagne): un modúle archéozoologique de gestion du territoire au Pléistocène. L’Anthropologie 105, 237–257 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Rosell, J., Cáceres, I. & Huguet, R. Systèmes d’occupation anthropique pendant le Pléistocène Inférieur et Moyen à la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Espagne). Quaternaire 9, 355–360 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Díez, J. C., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Carbonell, E. & Arsuaga, J. L. Evidence of early cannibalism. Science 271, 277–278 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Díez, C., Cáceres, I. & Rosell, J. Human cannibalism in the Early Pleistocene of Europe (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 37, 591–622 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Tobias, P. V. (Ed.) Olduvai Gorge Vol. 4 (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK, 1991)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Howell, F. C. European and northwest African Middle Pleistocene hominids. Curr. Anthropol. 1, 195–232 (1960)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. White, T. D., Johanson, D. C. & Kimbel, W. H. Australopithecus africanus: its phyletic position reconsidered. S. Afr. J. Sci. 77, 445–470 (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  49. Gabunia, L. & Vekua, A. K. A. Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Dmanisi, East Georgia, Caucasus. Nature 373, 509–512 (1995)

    Article  CAS  ADS  Google Scholar 

  50. Bräuer, G. & Schultz, M. The morphological affinities of the Plio-Pleistocene mandible from Dmanisi, Georgia. J. Hum. Evol. 30, 445–481 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Wood, B. A. Early hominid species and speciation. J. Hum. Evol. 22, 351–365 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Day, M. H. & Leakey, R. E. F. New evidence of the genus Homo from East Rudolf, Kenya. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 39, 341–354 (1973)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all the members of the Atapuerca research team involved in the recovery and study of the archaeological and palaeontological record from Sima del Elefante, and C. Lorenzo for the supervision of the fossils. We thank J. Mestre and S. Sarmiento for the hominin pictures and photomontage, and J.M. Carretero, E. Santos and L. Rodríguez for their supervision and scanning of the mandible. We also thank R. Quam for reviewing the English version. S. Antón, F. Spoor and I. Tattersall provided comments on the manuscript. This research was sponsored by Junta de Castilla y León, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia grant DGI CGL2006-13532-C03, GC ARAGOB 2007, NSF grant EAR 0452936 and a Fundación Atapuerca grant (R.H., M.N.).

Author Contributions E.C., J.M.B. de C. and J.L.A. directed the excavations and the research project. Authors contributed in the following areas: A.P-G., J.V. and A.B., geology, sedimentology and micromorphology; J.M.P., D.E.G. and G.M.S., geochronology; G.C.-B., J. van der M. and N.G., palaeontology of micro- and macromammals; E.C., A.O., M.M., R.S., X.P.R., J.M.V. and M.N., stone tool technology; R.H., I.C., C.D., A.M. and J. Ros., zooarchaeology; J.M.B. de C., A.R., M.M.-T., M.L. and J.L.A., palaeoanthropology; A.C., archaeostratigraphy; E.A., F.B. and J. Rod., palaeoecology. Unless indicated, J.M.B. de C. took the measurements of hominin fossils for Table 1. A.O. and M.M. edited and coordinated the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Plaça Imperial Tarraco 1, 43005 Tarragona, Spain,

    Eudald Carbonell, Andreu Ollé, Marina Mosquera, Rosa Huguet, Robert Sala, Josep Vallverdú, Xosé P. Rodríguez, Josep M. Vergès, Ethel Allué, Francesc Burjachs, Isabel Cáceres, Antoni Canals, Marina Lozano & Jordi Rosell

  2. Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre Evolución Humana, Avenida de la Paz 28, 09004 Burgos, Spain,

    José M. Bermúdez de Castro, Josep M. Parés, Alfredo Pérez-González, María Martinón-Torres, Ana Mateos & Jesús Rodríguez

  3. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, 2534 CCL Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA,

    Josep M. Parés & Greg M. Stock

  4. Departamento de Geodinámica, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

    Alfredo Pérez-González & Alfonso Benito

  5. Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, c/ Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain,

    Gloria Cuenca-Bescós

  6. Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, C.S.I.C., José G. Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain,

    Jan van der Made & Antonio Rosas

  7. Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain

    Nuria García & Juan L. Arsuaga

  8. Centro de Investigación (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, c/ Sinesio Delgado, 4 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain,

    Nuria García & Juan L. Arsuaga

  9. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA,

    Darryl E. Granger

  10. Yosemite National Park, 5083 Foresta Road, PO Box 700, El Portal, California 95318, USA,

    Greg M. Stock

  11. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Plaça Imperial Tarraco 1, 43005 Tarragona, Spain,

    Francesc Burjachs

  12. Laboratorio de Prehistoria, Edificio I+D+i, Universidad de Burgos, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain,

    Carlos Díez & Marta Navazo

Authors
  1. Eudald Carbonell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. José M. Bermúdez de Castro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Josep M. Parés
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alfredo Pérez-González
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Gloria Cuenca-Bescós
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Andreu Ollé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Marina Mosquera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Rosa Huguet
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jan van der Made
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Antonio Rosas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Robert Sala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Josep Vallverdú
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Nuria García
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Darryl E. Granger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. María Martinón-Torres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Xosé P. Rodríguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Greg M. Stock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Josep M. Vergès
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Ethel Allué
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. Francesc Burjachs
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. Isabel Cáceres
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. Antoni Canals
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. Alfonso Benito
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  24. Carlos Díez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  25. Marina Lozano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  26. Ana Mateos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  27. Marta Navazo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  28. Jesús Rodríguez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  29. Jordi Rosell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  30. Juan L. Arsuaga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Eudald Carbonell or José M. Bermúdez de Castro.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

The file contains Supplementary Discussion, Supplementary Tables 1-4, Supplementary Methods about geochronology and additional references. (PDF 234 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Carbonell, E., Bermúdez de Castro, J., Parés, J. et al. The first hominin of Europe. Nature 452, 465–469 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06815

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06815

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing