The earliest cut marks of Europe: a discussion on hominin subsistence patterns in the Orce sites (Baza basin, SE Spain)

M Patrocinio Espigares,Guillermo Rodríguez-Gómez,Antonio Guerra-Merchán,Paul Palmqvist,Sergio Ros-Montoya,Francisco J Serrano,Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro,José Manuel García-Aguilar

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51957-5

Abstract

Ancient evidence of human presence in Europe is recorded in several Early Pleistocene archaeopalaeontological sites from Spain, France and Italy. This is the case of Barranco León (BL) and Fuente Nueva-3 (FN-3), two localities placed near the town of Orce (depression of Baza and Guadix, SE Spain) and dated to ~1.4 Ma. At these sites, huge assemblages of Oldowan tools and evidence of defleshing, butchering and marrow processing of large mammal bones have been recovered together with a deciduous tooth of Homo sp. in the case of level BL-D. In this study, we: (i) describe in detail the anthropic marks found in the bone assemblages from these sites; (ii) analyse patterns of defleshment, butchery and marrow processing, based on the modifications identified in the cortical surface of the fossils; and (iii) discuss on the subsistence strategies of the first hominins that inhabited the European subcontinent during Early Pleistocene times.

Highlights

Ancient evidence of human presence in Europe is recorded in several Early Pleistocene archaeopalaeontological sites from Spain, France and Italy
Two archaeopalaeontological localities near the town of Orce (SE Spain), Barranco León (BL) and Fuente Nueva-3 (FN-3), are of the highest relevance, as they provide some of the earliest records of human presence in Western Europe
The age of the fertile levels of BL and FN-3 has been estimated in 1.43 ± 0.38 Ma and 1.19 ± 0.21 Ma, respectively, using a combined approach based on biostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy and electron spin resonance (ESR)[6,8]

Summary

Introduction

Ancient evidence of human presence in Europe is recorded in several Early Pleistocene archaeopalaeontological sites from Spain, France and Italy. Ancient evidence of human presence in Europe has been documented in a number of Early Pleistocene sites that preserve assemblages of Oldowan tools, including TE9 level of Atapuerca Sima del Elefante in Spain (~1.2 Ma)[1], Pirro Nord in Italy (1.7-1.3 Ma)[2] and Lézignan-la-Cèbe (1.3-1.1 Ma), Vallonnet Cave (1.2-1.1 Ma) and Pont-de-Lavaud (~1.1 Ma) in France[3] In this context, two archaeopalaeontological localities near the town of Orce (SE Spain), Barranco León (BL) and Fuente Nueva-3 (FN-3), are of the highest relevance, as they provide some of the earliest records of human presence in Western Europe. Their absence from BL and FN-3 suggests that both sites are older than 1.22 Ma

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Conclusion