Amb motiu del tancament d'estiu, la validació de documents es reprendrà a partir del 28 d'agost de 2026. Disculpeu les molèsties.
Con motivo del cierre de verano, la validación de documentos se reanudará a partir del 28 de agosto de 2026. Disculpad las molestias
Due to the summer closure, document validation will resume starting August 28, 2026. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Files

603591.pdf (804.76 KB)

Document type

Article

Version

Published version

Publication date

2006

All rights reserved

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/168073

First people in Spain

Journal Title

Authors

Director/Tutor

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Related resource

Abstract

We have been digging at sites in Orce and Cueva Victoria in South East Spain that have revealed the oldest evidence of humans in Western Europe. The rich archaeological and palaeontological record comes thanks to the special geology of the area. This is largely the result of ancient tectonic movements: about six million years ago, the Mediterranean Sea drew back and left an isolated saline lake system - marked Baza Lake on the map - that encompassed over 1500km. Thereafter, lake and fluvial deposits accumulated in the lake's basin, until around 400,000 years ago when tectonic movements connected Baza Lake with the Guadalquivir valley. Today, a massive 600m of sediment has built up in the area creating one of Europe's best sedimentary and palaeontological records of the past 6 million years. However, it is the period between 2 and 1 million years that is a key time to unlocking the secrets of the first human dispersion out of Africa.

Subject

Paleolític, Paleoantropologia, Home prehistòric

Subject (English)

Paleolithic period, Paleoanthropology, Prehistoric man

Citation

Collections

Articles publicats en revistes (Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada)

Citation

GIBERT CLOLS, Josep and GIBERT BEOTAS, Lluís. First people in Spain. Current World Archaeology. 2006. Vol. 20, num. 20-28. ISSN 1745-5820. [consulted: 12 of August of 2026]. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2445/168073

Export metadata

JSON - METS

Share record