Homo antecessor (thing)

The dicovery of fossils and stone tools at the Gran Dolina site in the Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain have led to the discovery of a whole new species of hominid. Homo antecessor is that new species. An ancestor to the Neanderthals, Homo antecessor lived in ancient Europe at least 780,000 years ago. It was previously thought that no humans or Neanderthals had reached Europe until 500,000 years ago. But the remains of Homo antecessor were clearly much older.

The Sierra de Atapuerca area of Spain has long been rich in terms of fossils. The area features many limestone caverns, (which were a common living area for Pleistocene era humans). The first human remains were discovered in the area in 1976. Systematic excavation was begun in 1984. To date over 1600 pieces of human remains have been excavated, (at least 32 unique individuals are represented, including one complete skull). They are just now beginning to excavate the majority of the sites in the area. So many more fossils are sure to surface.

These fossils were found to predate the last major reversal in the geomagnetic field direction, at 780,000 years ago, (using both electron spin resonance and Uranium series tests). These fossils are currently thought to be between 780,000 to 857,000 years old.

The Homo antecessor fossils are unique in their combination of cranial, mandibular, and dental traits. Some scientists believe that Homo antecessor was the last common ancestor for the Neanderthals and modern humans, (I disagree, in my opinion there is not enough evidence to make this link. Everyone is in such a rush to fill in "missing links", before proper evidence is established).