Homo heidelbergensis

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***Homo heidelbergensis*** ("Heidelberg Man") is the scientific name given to a number of human fossil remains that are older than fossils of Neanderthals.  *Homo heidelbergensis* is abbreviated ***H. heidelbergensis***.

## Classification 
Scientists are not sure whether these remains are from a distinct species. They are fragments (small pieces of bones), and most cannot be dated exactly. In the older texts they were simply called archaic humans or "early *Homo sapiens.*"

Archaeologists have found relatively well-defined remains of *Homo erectus* in Africa from very early in human history.  There have also been well-defined remains of *Homo neanderthalensis* found in Europe from later in history.  Some scholars use the terms "archaic humans," "early *Homo sapiens,*" or *Homo heidelbergensis* to describe remains that seem to come from between these two periods in history.  Some authors use it for all early species of *Homo*, including Neanderthals.

## Discovery 
In 1907, an archaeologist found a fossil of a lower jaw in Mauer, near Heidelberg, Germany.  Some scientists thought this lower jaw was so different from any other species that it belonged to an undiscovered species.  They named this species *Homo heidelbergensis*.

Later, archaeologists found remains in Arago, France, and Petralona, Greece, that they said were from *Homo heidelbergensis*. The best evidence found for these hominids is from between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. 

The stone tools used by *H. heidelbergensis* were very similar to the Acheulean tools used by *Homo erectus*.

*Homo heidelbergensis* may be the direct ancestor of both *Homo neanderthalensis* in Europe and *Homo sapiens*.  Some experts believe that "Rhodesian Man," found in Africa, belongs to the group *Homo heidelbergensis*.

## Interpretations 
### Features 
*Homo antecessor* and *H. heidelbergensis* may have had the same ancestor: *Homo ergaster* from Africa.  Mostly, *H. ergaster* was not very different from *H. heidelbergensis*.  However, *H. heidelbergensis* had a larger brain-case.  On average, their skulls had a volume of 1100 – 1400&nbsp;cm³ of space inside.  (The average modern human has 1350&nbsp;cm³ of space inside his or her skull.)  *H. heidelbergensis* also had more advanced tools and behavior than *H. ergaster*.  For these reasons, H. heidelbergensis has been classified as a separate species.

*H. heidelbergensis* was taller and more muscular than modern humans.  Male *heidelbergensis* averaged about  tall and .  Females averaged  and .

### They were good hunters 
Cut marks on wild deer, elephants, rhinos, and horses show that *H. heidelbergensis* hunted, killed, and butchered these animals. Some of these animals weighed 700&nbsp;kg (1,500&nbsp;lb) or more.

During this era, now-extinct wild animals like mammoths, European lions, and Irish elk lived on the European continent.

### They may have buried their dead 
Recent findings in Atapuerca suggest that *H. heidelbergensis* may have been the first species of the *Homo* genus to bury their dead.  However, scientists still argue over whether this is true.

Some experts believe that *H. heidelbergensis*, like its descendant *H. neanderthalensis,* learned a primitive form of language.

Scientists have not found any forms of art or sophisticated artifacts made by *H. heidelbergensis*, other than stone tools. However, archaeologists have found red ochre, a mineral that can be used to create a red pigment which can be used as a paint.  They found this possible paint at Terra Amata excavations in the south of France.

## Modern finds 
### Boxgrove Man
In 1994, British scientists unearthed a lower hominin tibia bone just a few miles away from the English Channel. Before a discovery at Gran Dolina, these were earliest known hominin remains in Europe.  

Archaologists found the bone with hundreds of ancient hand axes, at the Boxgrove Quarry site. The bone is dated to between 478,000 and 524,000 years old.

The tibia had been chewed by a large carnivore.  This suggests two possibilities.  The individual may have been killed by a lion or wolf.  They might also have died from some other cause, and their unburied corpse was scavenged after their death.

The discoverers believe the remains are from *H. heidelbergensis.*  However, some other scientists believe the remains are from early *H. neanderthalensis*. 

### Sima de los Huesos
Beginning in 1992, a Spanish team has located more than 5,500 human bones that are at least 350,000 years old in the Sima de los Huesos site.  This site is in the Sierra de Atapuerca, in northern Spain. The pit contains fossils of perhaps 28 individuals, together with remains of *Ursus deningeri,* other carnivores, and a biface called *Excalibur*.  

Some scientists think that this Acheulean axe, made of red quartzite, was some kind of ritual offering for a funeral.  If so, it would be the earliest known evidence of a funerary practice.

## References 
## Other websites
* 
**Homo heidelbergensis* – The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program