Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

The first human dispersal to Europe: Remarks on the archaeological and palaeoanthropological record from Orce (Guadix-Baza basin, southeastern Spain)

  • Published:
Human Evolution

Abstract

The chronology of the first arrival ofHomo in Europe is a rather controversial issue, with most scholars claiming until very recently that there were no permanent human settlements before the middle Pleistocene. However, new findings at Atapuerca, Dmanisi and Orce, as well as the re-evaluation of the evidence from Java, Israel and China indicate a protracted chronology for the arrival of hominids in Eurasia, during late Pliocene/lower Pleistocene times. The systematic study of the macrovertebrate assemblages from circummediterranean sites such as Orce and Dmanisi has shown a faunal replacement at the Plio-Pleistocene boundary, marked by the arrival in Europe of African immigrants such as the hippopotamus, an equid similar to modern grevy’s zebra, a large cercopithecoid and several carnivores, including a giant hyaena, a sabre-tooth and a wild dog. An analysis of the relative frequency of bones and teeth for those species of large mammals preserved in Venta Micena indicates the improbability thatHomo sp. is represented in the fossil assemblage by several bones and no tooth remain. Finally, new data on the stratigraphy of Barranco León are offered, with remarks on the discovery in this locality of lithic artefacts and molar tooth fragment BL5-0.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agustí J. & Moyà-Solà S., 1987.Sobre la identidad del fragmento craneal atribuido a Homosp. en Venta Micena (Orce, Granada). Estudios Geológicos, 43: 535–538.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agustí J. & Moyà-Solà S., 1992.Mammalian dispersal event in the Spanish Pleistocene. Courier Forsch.-Inst. Senckenberg, 153: 69–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agustí J., Arbiol S. & Martín-Suárez E., 1987.Roedores y lagomorfos (Mammalia) del Pleistoceno inferior de Venta Micena (depresión de Guadix-Baza, Granada). Paleontologia i Evolucio, mem. esp. 1: 95–107.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agustí J., Moyà-Solà S., Martín-Suarez E. & Marin M. 1987.Faunas de mamíferos en el Pleistoceno inferior de la región de Orce (Granada, España). Paleontología i Evolució, mem. esp. 1: 73–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agustí J., Moyà-Solà S. & Pons-Moyà J. 1987.La sucesión de Mamíferos en el Pleistoceno inferior de Europa: proposición de una nueva escala bioestratigráfica. Paleontología i Evolució, mem esp., 1, 287–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anadón P., Julià R., De Deckker P., Rosso J.C. & Solulie-Marsche I., 1987.Contribución a la paleolimnología del Pleistoceno inferior de la cuenca de Baza (Sector Orce-Venta Micena). Paleontologia i Evolució, mem. esp. 1: 35–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arribas, A., 1999.Análisis y modelización de la tafonomía del yacimiento de Venta Micena (Orce, Granada) y su estudio comparativo con otras localidades españolas del Plio-Pleistoceno continental. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

  • Arribas A. & Palmqvist P., 1998.Taphonomy and palaeoecology of an assemblage of large mammals: hyaenid activity in the lower Pleistocene site at Venta Micena (Orce, Guadix-Baza Basin, Granada, Spain). Geobios, 31 (suppl.): 3–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arribas A. & Palmqvist P., 1999.On the ecological connection between sabre-tooths and hominids: faunal dispersal events in the lower Pleistocene and a review of the evidence for the first human arrival in Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science, 26: 571–585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arribas A., Palmqvist P. & Martínez-Navarro B. 1996.Estudio tafonómico cuantitativo de la asociación de macromamíferos de Venta Micena. Comunicaciones de la II Reunión de Tafonomía y fosilización, 27–38. Zaragoza.

  • Arribas A., Gibert J., Martínez B., Gibert L. & Albadalejo S. 1994.Geología del Plio-Pleistoceno del sector Orce-Venta Micena (Cuenca de Guadix-Baza, Granada): estado actual de los conocimientos. Comunicaciones de las X Jornadas de Paleontología, 23–25. Madrid.

  • Ascenzi A., Biddittu I., Cassoli P.F. Segre A.G. & Segrenaldini E., 1996.A calvarium of late Homo erectusfrom Ceprano, Italy. Journal of Human Evolution, 31: 409–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asfaw B., Beyene Y., Suwa G., Walter R.C., White T.D., Woldegabriel G. & Yemane T. 1992.The earliest Acheulean from Konso-Gardula. Nature, 360: 732–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Azzaroli A., 1995. The ‘elephant-Equus’ and the ‘end-Villafranchian’ events in Eurasia. In (E. S. Vrba, G. H. Denton, T. C. Partridge & Ll. H. Burckle, Eds)Paleoclimate and Evolution, with emphasis on human origins. Yale University Press: New Haven and London, pp. 311–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef O., 1994.The Lower Paleolithic of the Near East. Journal of World prehistory, 8: 211–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Behrensmeyer A.K., Todd N.E., Potts R. & McBrinn G.E., 1997.Late Pliocene faunal turnover in the Turkana Basin, Kenya and Ethiopia. Science, 278: 1589–1594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bermúdez De Castro J.M., Arsuaga J.L., Carbonell E., Rosas A., Martínez I. & Mosquera M., 1997.A hominid from the lower Pleistocene of Atapuerca, Spain: possible ancestor to neanderthals and modern humans. Science, 276: 1392–1395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borja C., 1995.Detección y caracterización de proteínas fósiles mediante técnicas inmunes. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation thesis, Universidad de Granada.

  • Borja C., García-Pacheco M., García-Olivares E., Scheuenstuhl G. & Lowenstein J.M., 1997.Immunospecificity of albumin detected in 1.6 million-year-old fossils from Venta Micena in Orce, Granada, Spain. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 103: 493–441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carbonell E. & Rodríguez X.P., 1994.Early Middle Pleistocene deposits and artefacts in the Gran Dolina site (TD4) of the ‘Sierra de Atapuerca’ (Burgos, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution, 26: 291–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carbonell E., Mosquera M., Rodríguez X.P. & Sala R., 1995.The first human settlement of Europe. Journal of Anthropological Research, 51: 107–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carbonell E., Bermúdez De Castro J.M., Arsuaga J.L., Díez J.C., Rosas A., Cuenca-Bescós G., Sala R., Mosquera M. & Rodríguez X.P., 1995.Lower Pleistocene hominids and artefacts from Atapuerca TD-6 (Spain). Science, 269: 826–830.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carbonell E., Mosquera M., Rodríguez X.P., Sala R. & van der Made J., 1999.Out of Africa: the dispersal of the earliest technical systems reconsidered. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 18: 119–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattaneo G., Gelsthorpe K., Phillips P. & Sokol R.J., 1993.Blood residues on stone tools: indoor and outdoor experiments. World Archaeology, 25: 29–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cela-Conde C.J., 1999.Choosing between two conflicting scientific hypotheses: the Orce dilemmas. Human Evolution, 14: 47–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dennell R.W. & Roebroeks W., 1996.The earliest colonization of Europe: the short chronology revisited. Antiquity, 70: 535–542.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennell R.W., Rendell H.M. & Hailwood E., 1988.Early tool-making in Asia: two-million-year-old artefacts in Pakistan. Antiquity, 62: 98–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiedel S.J., 1996.Blood from stones? Some methodological and interpretive problems in blood residue analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 23: 139–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabunia L. & Vekua A., 1995.A Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Dmanisi, East Georgia, Caucasus. Nature, 373: 509–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabunia L., Vekua A., Lordkipanidze D., Swisher C.C., Ferring R., Justus A., Nioradze M., Tvalchrelidze M., Antón S.C., Bosinski G., Jöris O., de Lumley M.A., Majsuradze G. & Mouskhelishvili A., 2000.Earliest Pleistocene hominid cranial remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: taxonomy, geological setting, and age. Science, 288: 1019–1025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J. & Palmqvist P., 1995.Fractal analysis of the Orce skull sutures. Journal of Human Evolution, 28: 561–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Agustí A. & Moyà-Solà S. 1983.Presencia de Homo sp. en el yacimiento del Pleistoceno inferior de Venta Micena. Paleontologia i Evolució, pub. espec. 12 pp.

  • Gibert J., Ribot F., Ferrández C., Martínez-Navarro B., Caporicci R. & Campillo D., 1989.Anatomical study: comparison of the cranial fragment from Venta Micena (Orce, Spain) with fossil and extant mammals. Human Evolution, 4: 283–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Arribas A., Martínez B., Albadalejo S., Gaete R., Gibert L., Oms O., Peñas C. & Torrico R. 1994.Bioestratigraphie et magnétostratigraphie des gisements à présence humaine et action anthropique du Pléistocène inférieur de la région d’Orce (Granada, Espagne). Comptes Rendus de la Academie des Sciences de Paris, 318, série II, 1277–1282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Ribot F., Gibert Ll., Leakey M., Arribas A. & Martínez-Navarro B., 1995.Presence of the cercopithecid genus Theropithecusin Cueva Victoria (Murcia, Spain), Journal of Human Evolution, 28: 487–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Campillo D., Arqués J.M., García-Olivares E., Borja C. & Lowenstein J.M., 1998.Hominid status of the Orce cranial fragment reasserted. Journal of Human Evolution, 34: 203–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Campillo D., Eisenmann V., García-Olivares E., Malgosa A., Roe D.A., Walker M.J., Borja C., Sánchez F., Ribot F., Gibert Ll., Albadalejo S., Iglesias A., Ferrández C. & Maestro E., 1999.Spanish late Pliocene and early Pleistocene hominid, palaeolithic and faunal finds from Orce (Granada) and Cueva Victoria (Murcia). Human Evolution, 14: 29–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibert J., Gibert Ll., Albadalejo S., Ribot F., Sánchez F. & Gibert P., 1999.Molar tooth fragment BL5-0: the oldest human remain found in the Plio-Pleistocene of Orce (Granada province, Spain). Human Evolution, 14: 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero-Alba S. & Palmqvist P., 1997.Estudio morfométrico del caballo de Venta Micena (Orce, Granada) y su comparación con los équidos modernos y del Plio-Pleistoceno en el viejo y nuevo mundo. Paleontologia i Evolució, 30–31: 93–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowenstein J.M., 1995.Immunological reactions on fossil bones from Orce. Abstracts of the International Congress of Human Paleontology (Orce, Granada): 27.

  • Lowenstein J.M., Borja C & García-Olivares E., 1999.Species-specific albumin in fossil bones from Orce, Granada, Spain. Human Evolution, 14: 21–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Navarro B., 1996.Similarities between skull fragment VM-0 from Orce (Spain) and the Homo erectusholotype from Trinil (Java). Revista Española de Paleontología, 11: 120–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Navarro B. & Palmqvist P., 1995.Presence of the African machairodont Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) in the Lower Pleistocene site of Venta Micena (Orce, Granada, Spain), with some considerations on the origin, evolution and dispersal of the genus. Journal of Archaeological Science, 22: 569–582.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Navarro B. & Palmqvist P., 1996.Presence of the African saber-toothed felid Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Mammalia, Carnivora, Machairodontidae) in Apollonia-1 (Mygdonia basin, Macedonia, Greece). Journal of Archaeological Science, 23: 869–872.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martínez Navarro B., Turq A., Agustí J. & Oms O., 1997.Fuente Nueva-3 (Orce Granada, Spain) and the first human colonization of Europe. Journal of Human Evolution, 33: 611–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moyà-Solà S. & Köhler M., 1997.The Orce skull: anatomy of a mistake. Journal of Human Evolution, 33: 91–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oms O., Parés J.M., Martínez-Navarro B., Agustí J., Toro I., Martínez-Fernández G. & Turq A. 2000.Early human occupation of Western Europe: paleomagnetic dates for two paleolithic sites in Spain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 97: 10666–10670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmqvist P., 1997.A critical re-evaluation of the evidence for the presence of hominids in lower Pleistocene times at Venta Micena, Southern Spain. Journal of Human Evolution, 33: 83–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmqvist P. & Arribas A., 2000.Taphonomic decoding of the paleobiological information locked in a lower Pleistocene assemblage of large mammals. Paleobiology, 26: in press.

  • Palmqvist P., Martínez-Navarro B. & Arribas A., 1996.Prey selection by terrestrial carnivores in a lower Pleistocene paleocommunity. Paleobiology, 22: 514–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmqvist P., Pérez-Claros J.A., Gibert J. & Santamaría J.L., 1996.Comparative morphometric study of a human phalanx from the Lower Pleistocene site at Cueva Victoria (Murcia, Spain), by means of Fourier analysis, shape coordinates of landmarks, principal and relative warps. Journal of Archaeological Science, 23: 95–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmqvist P., Arribas A. & Martínez-Navarro B., 1999.Ecomorphological analysis of large canids from the lower Pleistocene of southeastern Spain. Lethaia, 32: 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed K.E., 1997.Early hominid evolution and ecological change through the African Plio-Pleistocene. Journal of Human Evolution, 32: 289–322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed K.E., 1998.Using large mammal communities to examine ecological and taxonomic structure and predict vegetation in extant and extinct assemblages. Paleobiology, 24: 384–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rendell H.M., Hailwood E. & Dennell R.W., 1987.Paleomagnetic dating of a two-million-year-old-artefact-bearing horizon at Riwat, northern Pakistan. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 85: 488–496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roebroeks W. & Kolfschoten T. van, 1994.The earliest occupation of Europe: a short chronology. Antiquity, 68: 489–503.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roebroeks W. & Kolfschoten, T. van, 1995. The earliest occupation of Europe: a reappraisal of artefactual and chronological evidence. In (W. Roebroeks & T. von Kolfschoten, Eds),The earliest occupation of Europe. Proceedings of the European Science Foundation at Tautavel (France), 1993. University of Leiden, pp. 297–315.

  • Sánchez F., Gibert J., Malgosa A., Ribot F., Gibert LI. & Walker M.J., 1999.Insights into the evolution of child growth from lower Pleistocene humeri at Venta Micena (Orce, Granada province, Spain). Human Evolution, 14: 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seilacher A., Reif W.E. & Westphal F. 1985.Sedimentological, ecological and temporal patterns of fossil Lagertätten. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 311B: 5–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soria F.J., López-Garrido A.C. & Vera J.A. 1987.Análisis estratigráfico y sedimentológico de los depósitos neógeno-cuaternarios en el sector de Orce (depresión Guadix-Baza). Paleontología i Evolució, Mem. esp. 1: 11–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swisher C.C., Curtis G.H., Jacob T., Getty A.G., Suprijo A & Widiasmoro, 1994.Age of the earliest known hominids in Java, Indonesia. Science, 263: 1118–1121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tchernov E., 1986.Les mammiferes du Pléistocéne inférieur de la vallée du Jordain a Oubeidiyeh. Memoires et Travaux du Centre de Recherche Francaise de Jerusalem, 5: 1–405.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tchernov E., 1999. The earliest hominids in the southern Levant. In (J. Gibert, F. Sánchez, L. Gibert & F. Ribot, Eds)The hominids and their environment during the lower and middle Pleistocene of Eurasia. Proceedings of the International Conference of Human Palaeontology, Orce 1995., Ayuntamiento de Orce (Granada), pp. 389–406.

  • Tixier J., Roe D., Turq A., Gibert J., Martínez-Navarro B., Arribas A., Gibert L., Maillo A. & Iglesias A., 1995.Presence d’industries lithiques dans le Pléistocéne inférieur de la région d’Orce (Grenade, Espagne): etat de la question. Comptes Rendus de la Academie des Sciences de Paris, série IIa, 321: 71–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuross N., Barnes I. & Potts R., 1996.Protein identification of blood residues on experimental stone tools. Journal of Archaeological Science, 23: 289–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turq A., Martínez-Navarro B., Palmqvist P., Arribas A., Agustí J. & Rodríguez-Vidal J., 1996.Le Plio-Pleistocene de la région d’Orce, province de Grenade, Espagne: bilan et perspectives de recherche. Paleo, 8: 161–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vera J.A., Fernández J. López-Garrido C.C. & Rodríguez-Fernández J., 1985.Geología y estratigrafia de los materiales plioceno-pleistocenos del sector Orce-Venta Micena (Prov. Granada). Paleontología i Evolució, 18: 3–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wanpo H., Ciochon R., Yumin G., Larick R., Qiren F., Schwarcz H., Yonge C., Vos J. de & Rink W., 1995.Early Homoand associated artefacts from Asia. Nature, 378: 275–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhisheng A. & Chuankun H., 1989.New magnetostratigraphic dates of Lantian Homo erectus. Quaternary Research, 33: 213–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museo Geominero, Instituto Technológico Geominero de España (ITGE), Ríos Rosas, 23, 28003, Madrid, Spain

    Arribas A.

  2. Departamento de Geología y Ecología (Área de Paleontología), Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Palmqvist P.

Authors
  1. Arribas A.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Palmqvist P.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Arribas, A., Palmqvist, P. The first human dispersal to Europe: Remarks on the archaeological and palaeoanthropological record from Orce (Guadix-Baza basin, southeastern Spain). Hum. Evol. 17, 55–77 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436429

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02436429

Keywords

Search

Navigation