Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain): a Treasure Trove of Hominin Fossil

The seminar presented by Dr María Martinón-Torres (University College London, UK) focused on the earliest Neanderthal forms discovered at the Sima de los Huesos site (Spain). The skeletal remains of twenty-eight individuals were discovered there, mostly representing young adults whose bodies were probably intentionally thrown into a karstic well. This exceptional discovery provides an insight into the individual variability and pathologies of a Middle Pleistocene European population. It shows that it was primarily the face and masticatory system that were affected by the accretion of Neanderthal traits, while the skull and brain retained their primitive characteristics for longer.