Level TE9c of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): A comprehensive approach
Introduction
The main aim of this paper is to present the results and interpretations of the study of level TE9c of Sima del Elefante from an interdisciplinary point of view. The assemblage from level TE9c has provided the most data related to the first human occupation of Europe. The results obtained from the remains recovered in this level correspond to different fields of research, including geology, chronology, palaeontology, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, palaeobotany, palaeoanthropology and lithic technology. These data have made it possible to reconstruct the paleoenvironment of the area surrounding Sima del Elefante during the formation of level TE9c (Fig. 1).
The Sima del Elefante site (hereafter referred to as TE) is a major cave infill with a stratigraphic succession with a thickness of 25 m and a width of 15 in the exposed section, divided into 16 litho-stratigraphic units, called TE7 to TE21, from bottom to top (Rosas et al., 2001, Rosas et al., 2004, Rosas et al., 2006). A palaeomagnetic analysis has detected a polarity change at the base of unit TE17. Thus, the sediments below this unit, from TE7 to TE16, have reversed polarity and have been assigned to the Matuyama chron (>780 ka) (Rosas et al., 2001, Parés et al., 2006). According to Arnold and Demuro (2015) the corresponding weighted mean TT-OSL (Thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence) ages for units TE16 and TE17 at Sima del Elefante are 890 ± 70 ka and 789 ± 47 ka, respectively.
More recent units (TE18–TE19) containing archaeological and palaeontological records have been attributed to the second half of the Middle Pleistocene, around 250–350 ka (OIS 9–8), on the basis of a biochronological analysis (Rosas et al., 2006, López-García et al., 2011). A uranium series (U/Th) analysis of the stalagmitic crust from the roof of level TE18 has yielded two dates, 307 ± 19 ka and 255 ± 12 ka (Bischoff, pers. comm.). These results suggest that level TE18 was formed during MIS 9 and 7, and that the chronology of TE19 is more recent than 255 ka (de Lombera-Hermida et al., 2015).
The lower levels (TE7–TE14) of the sedimentary infill constitute the Early Pleistocene stratigraphic sequence with the longest archaeo-palaeontological record in Europe. This has allowed us to propose a diachronic study in relation to the different faunal and botanical taxa identified throughout the stratigraphic succession as well as to the human groups that lived near the site about 1 million years ago. However, to carry out a diachronic study on the Early Pleistocene at Sima del Elefante, each archaeo-palaeontological level documented must first be characterized (Fig. 2).
Section snippets
Geological settings
The sedimentary facies of the Sima del Elefante are described in detail in Rosas et al., 2001, Rosas et al., 2004, Rosas et al., 2006. Unit TE9 has been described as consisting of brown mud with subangular blocks in beds markedly sloping to the north (38°) (Parés et al., 2006). In level TE9c, limestone blocks exhibit developed weathering cortices, and the decomposition of some of these blocks sometimes affect the fossils that were in contact with them.
Unit TE9 contains three subunits TE9c, TE9b
Level 9c
In 2003 we began excavating level TE9c over a surface area of approximately 12 square metres. The excavation of this level is still under way today across a surface area that has increased to about 30 square metres. TE9c has a maximum thickness of 1 m. To date, we have documented the coordinates of over 6000 archaeo-palaeontological remains and recovered over 15,000 remains by washing and sieving the sediment materials acquired from the excavation. The latter consist mainly of small vertebrate
Discussion
Level TE9c of Sima del Elefante is one of most important archaeological sites in the study of European human evolution. This assemblage and the results obtained have both contributed to answering questions related to human evolution research and raised new questions as well.
Conclusions
The study of the findings from level TE9c has provided new data that has allowed us to better understand the early human occupation of Europe. These data have shown that the first humans inhabited western Europe at least 1.2 Ma. The scarcity of human remains of Homo sp. in this assemblage has not made it possible, so far, to assign them. However, the data collected from the site allow us to affirm that these hominins settled in a landscape such as the Sierra de Atapuerca with a Mediterranean
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Atapuerca research team, participants in the fieldwork. This research project was supported by MINECO projects (CGL2012-38434-C03-03, CGL2012-38434-C03-02, CGL2012-38434-C03-01, HAR 2012-032548/HIST, HAR2013-41197-P) and AGAUR project (2014SGR-899, 2014-SGR 901). The field excavation work was supported by Junta de Castilla y León and Fundación Atapuerca. We are grateful to Ángel Blanco for his review about species of fishes recovered in TE9c. A.L.H. was beneficiary of a
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