| Homo antecessor Temporal range: Early Pleistocene | |
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| Species: | H. antecessor |
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| †Homo antecessor Bermudez de Castro et al., 1997 | |
Homo antecessor (Latin for "pioneer man") is an extinct human species that lived from around 1.2 million to 770,000 years ago. It is the first type of early human to reach Western Europe. Its scientific name is abbreviated as H. antecessor.
The best-preserved H. antecessor fossil is a maxilla (an upper jaw bone). It belonged to a 10-year-old individual found in Atapuerca, Spain. Eighty fossils from six individuals were found at the same site.
The bones from Spain had cuts on the bones created by flesh being cut from them. Many other H. antecessor specimens were also cannibalised like this, perhaps for food or as a cultural practice.
H. antecessor's brain was larger than that of Homo erectus, which came earlier in human evolution. Based on the anatomy of fossil skulls, scientists think H. antecessor could hear the same range of sounds as modern humans and may have been right-handed.
H. antecessor individuals were around 5.5 feet to 6 feet tall (1.6m - 1.8m). Males weighed around 200 pounds (90 kg).
H. antecessor may have been broad-chested and rather heavy, much like Neanderthals. Its limbs were proportionally long, which is a trait more frequent in tropical populations.
The kneecaps are thin and have poorly developed tendon attachments. The feet indicate H. antecessor walked differently from modern humans.
H. antecessor made Oldowan style stone tools. These were simple pebble and flakes made out of quartz, chert, or other materials. Their tool-making industry was similar, but less complex than the Acheulean tool culture. Acheulean tool artifacts have been found in African and later European sites.
Groups may have sent hunting parties to kill deer in their savannah and mixed woodland environment. There is no evidence they were using fire, and they only lived in Iberia during warm periods, presumably retreating to the southern coast otherwise.
There is evidence that this species used basic language.
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