« Neandertals and their origins : new research at Sierra de Atapuerca » par Asier Gomez-Olivencia
The Sierra de Atapuerca site complex is well known for having provided evidence of different human occupations throughout more than 1 million years. Currently, evidence of Early Pleistocene human fossils have been found in Trinchera Elefante (1.2 Ma ; Homo sp.) and Gran Dolina (level TD6 ; c. 800 ka ; H. antecessor). Additionally, evidence of Middle Pleistocene human activity have been found in Gran Dolina (level 10) and Galería. The latter, but basically Sima de los Huesos have also provided the largest known fossil accumulation for a single fossil species. Evidence of Neandertal occupations have been found at open-air sites, but also at Galería de las Estatuas, which has revealed a MIS5-4 stratigraphical sequence and has also provided the first Neandertal remain found in Atapuerca. Finally, Holocene human occupations have been found at Portalón, Galería del Sílex and Mirador. The aims of this presentation are : 1) to present a general overview of the Atapuerca site complex underlining the multiplicity of sites and their complementary nature in order to understand human evolution during the last million years ; 2) to provide new information regarding the Middle Pleistocene humans from Sima de los Huesos based on the new anatomical analyses and the archaeological record found in the nearby sites ; 3) to present our work in the recently excavated Galería de las Estatuas site which provide new perspectives for the study of the Late Pleistocene.