Barranco León

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Barranco León
LocationOrce
RegionProvince of Granada
Coordinates37°43′26.5620″N 02°27′02.8230″W / 37.724045000°N 2.450784167°W / 37.724045000; -2.450784167
TypeArchaeological site
History
PeriodsPleistocene
CulturesOldowan
Site notes
Excavation dates
  • 1995
  • 1999-2000
Archaeologists
  • Josep Gibert i Clols
  • Martínez Fernández y Toro

Barranco León is an

milk tooth of a boy or girl of 10 years. After the tooth had been dated, its original owner (the "child of Orce") was hailed as having left the earliest anatomical evidence for humans in Western Europe.[2][3]

The site was excavated in 1995 by Josep Gibert i Clols and between 1999 and 2000 by Martínez Fernández y Toro.

Animals

Now situated in an arid area of Spain, the site was once at the edge of a lake. Among the large mammals were found Hippopotamus antiquus, Equus altidens, Felidae cf. Homotherium sp., Megaloceros sp. and Bovini gen. et indet.[4]

Humans

Apart from the tooth, other finds from Orce have been posited as early human remains, but their status has not been confirmed.

Stone Tools

Stone tools on display

The

lithic industry assemblage found at the site is from the Oldowan,[4]
and consists of more than 1000 artefacts (including waste flakes). Spiral or helical fractures, impact points, flake scars, and bone flakes were discovered on megafaunal remains and are associated with the tools.[2]

Conservation

The

geosites in Spain. These geosites are known in Spain as LIGs. Barranco Leon is listed as AND331,[5]
a separate reference from the global geosite one, VP016. Barranco Leon is listed primarily for its paleontological interest with regard to vertebrates ("Yacimientos de vertebrados del Plioceno y Pleistoceno españoles"), although the stratigraphy is also of interest.

Access

The exact location of the geosite is confidential.[5] However, tourism is encouraged at Orce. Material from Barranco Leon is on display at the local museum.[6] Also, the Granada Geopark has promoted Orce in the context of geotourism. It is on a trekking route, the "First Settlers Great Path", which starts and finishes at Huéscar.[7]

References

  1. Universidad de Barcelona
    . p. 9. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  2. ^
    PMID 23481345
    .
  3. ^ "Barranco León: Yacimiento Paleontológico". Portal de la comarca de Huescar (in Spanish). 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  4. ^
    ISSN 1133-4525
    .
  5. ^ a b "AND331:Yacimiento paleontológico de Barranco León-5". Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Museo de Prehistoria y Paleontología". Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  7. ^ "First settlers great path". Retrieved 2023-08-08.
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