Archaeological Site of Atapuerca

Atapuerca Mountains

Sierra de Atapuerca
Atapuerca Mountains panorama
Location in Spain Show map of Castile and León Location in Spain Show map of Spain
Location	near Atapuerca town, Ibeas de Juarros
Region	Burgos, Castile and León
Coordinates	42°22′0″N 3°31′20″W / 42.36667°N 3.52222°W / 42.36667; -3.52222Coordinates: 42°22′0″N 3°31′20″W / 42.36667°N 3.52222°W / 42.36667; -3.52222
History
Periods	Paleolithic
Associated with	Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis
Site notes
Excavation dates	since 1964
Archaeologists	Francisco Jordá Cerdá

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Archaeological Site of Atapuerca
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Location	Spain
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii, v
Reference	989
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)

The Atapuerca Mountains, (Spanish: Sierra de Atapuerca) is a karstic hill formation near Atapuerca town in Castile and Leon, northern Spain. In a still ongoing excavation campaign rich fossil deposits and stone tool assemblages were discovered in the complex of local caves that are attributed to the earliest known hominin residents in Western Europe. This "exceptional reserve of data" has been deposited during extensive Lower Paleolithic presence as the Atapuerca Mountains served as the preferred occupation site of Homo erectus, Homo antecessor (or Homo erectus antecessor) and Homo heidelbergensis communities. The earliest specimen yet unearthed and reliably dated confirm an age between 1.2 Million and 600,000 years. The site was induced into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites under the designation Archeological Site of Atapuerca.

Encompassing 284,119 ha (702,070 acres) the Atapuerca Mountains are a mid-altitude karstic range of small foothills around 1,080 m (3,540 ft) above sea level at the north-east corner of the Douro basin and to the south of the Cantabrian Mountains that run across northern Spain. Stretching alongside the Bureba corridor, a mountain pass that connects the Ebro river valley with the Mediterranean Sea and the Duero basin. This conjunction constitutes an ecotone, that is rich in species of both ecosystems. The mountain pass was part of an Roman causeway and the pilgrimage route of Saint James that is now traversed by the N-I and AP-1 highways. Situated strategically in between two major Drainage divides and near the mountain pass is assumed to have been supportive for the successful and prolonged hominid habitation.