Atapuerca..The First Europeans

Atapuerca is an archeological excavation in the the North of Spain....near the city of BURGOS. Its importance in the geneological tree of the human race cannot be over-estimated. Especially since the discovery Homo-Antecesor (800,000 AD).
These discoveries are very recent (since 1997)........and situate Spain as the starting point for todays Europeans.
The conditions necessary to produce such a find are extraordinary:
1. The skeletons must be covered immediately to block oxidation and discomposition of the bones.
2. The temperature must be kept within a tight range to prevent bone desintegration.
3. There must be ways (other than Radio Carbon 14, which is only valid up to about 14,000 years old), of dating the find.

Here is how it happened:

1.Water filters into limestone crevaces

2. The limestone is disolved leaving a cavity (cave)

3. Succesive layers of slit pile up one over the other from infiltrated rain water.

ATAPUERCA EXPOSITIONSa Llonja in Palma is housing until November 23, the exhibition "Atapuerca y la evolución humana", produced by the Fundació Caixa Catalunya directed by Jua Luis Arsuaga, codirector of the Research Team of Atapuerca. The exhibition that comes to Palma brought by the Conselleria d'Educació i Cultura of the Balearic Government, presents the discoveries carried out and the objects recovered by the research team that is working in the site of prehistoric remains of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos).

The exhibition, that includes a documentary about Atapuerca directed by Javier Trueba, groups together objects of great value, such as the first reconstruction of the head of the Gran Dolina Child (Homo antecesor), the oldest human found in Europe,some 800,000 years old. In 1997 the research team of Atapuerca received the award Premio Principe de Asturias for Scientific and Technical Research and in 2000 the UNESCO declared the site to be World Heritage.Connected to the exhibition a programme of activities has been organised, including three conferences and three educational workshops. The conferences will be at 8 p.m. on October 9, 23 and November 6; the workshops will take place on Saturdays and Sundays in October and November. More information on telephone 971 71 17 05. -Photo: ibiza-hotels editor Bob in Atapuerca

The entrance is free and the visiting times are from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Mondays.