May 21 2025 – 10h30: international seminar n° 64
Speaker
Maria Boada
Ph.D. Student, The Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES), Tarragona
Topic
Sima del Elefante: Evidence of the first settlement in Europe
The Sierra de Atapuerca, located 15 km from the city of Burgos (Spain), is a site of great significance for the study of the earliest hominin settlements in Europe. This karst system hosts an exceptional assemblage of archaeological sites, with sedimentary deposits spanning from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene. Its extensive fossil and archaeological record provide crucial insights into the presence and evolutionary history of various human species over time. Currently, excavations are being conducted in four main sectors: Trinchera del Ferrocarril, Cueva Mayor, El Mirador, and the open-air sites.
In the Trinchera del Ferrocarril sector, several sites have been identified, including Sima del Elefante, Galería, Gran Dolina, Penal, and Cueva Fantasma. Among them, Sima del Elefante contains the oldest archaeological layers, dating back approximately 1.2 to 1.4 million years (Carbonell et al., 2008, 2024; Huguet, 2007; Huguet et al., 2017, 2025; Parés et al., 2006; Rosas et al., 2006).
At levels TE14 to TE07, human remains have been recovered, including specimens ATE9-1 (Bermúdez de Castro et al., 2011; Huguet et al., 2017) and ATE7-1 (Huguet et al., 2025). Additionally, faunal remains exhibiting anthropic modifications (Huguet, 2007; Huguet et al., 2017) have been documented in association with a lithic industry (de Lombera-Hermida et al., 2015; Ollé et al., 2013). Studies on the faunal assemblage from level TE09 reveal a high degree of taxonomic diversity, distinguishing three major groups: avian remains (Marqueta et al., 2022), ungulates, and carnivores (Boada, 2022; Huguet, 2007; Huguet et al., 2017). The studies carried out on this faunal assemblage suggest different sedimentation processes for each of these groups.
In this talk, we will present the results of the taphonomic analysis of the modifications observed in the faunal remains, attributed to the agents involved in the accumulation processes. Furthermore, we will discuss the possible functionality of the cave during the sedimentation of level TE09 at Sima del Elefante.
Top: Specimen ATE9-1 and ATE9-2 of Homo sp. recovered in level TE09c, with associated lithic industry. Image extracted from Huguet et al., 2017. Middle: Facial fragment ATE7-1 of Homo aff. erectus, recovered from level TE07, with associated lithic industry. Image extracted from Huguet et al., 2025. Bottom: Rib of Bovidae with cut marks recovered in level TE09d
Place
Room 410, 3rd floor, North wing, Build. B35, university of Poitiers.