Unearthing a Neanderthal Madrileña

[xchrom]

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Unearthing/Neanderthal/Madrilena/elpepueng/20110915elpeng_3/Ten

The famous paleoarcheological site at Pinilla del Valle can add another valuable find to its list. Known as one of the richest European sites for fauna remains (more than 3,000 fossils of rhinos, lions, bears, hyenas and turtles have been dug up here), it has now offered up important hominid findings that represent a significant step for anthropological research

The discovery in Pinilla del Valle of four dental pieces belonging to a girl who lived more than 40,000 years ago is one of the most important paleontological discoveries of recent decades. That's how it was defined by anthropologist Juan Luis Arsuaga, co-director of Atapuerca; palaeontologist Enrique Baquedano (the driving force behind the excavation at Pinilla) and the top man in Spanish archeology, Alfredo Rérez González, on Monday.

Ignacio González, vice-premier of the regional government, has also announced the acquisition of extra land in order to continue the excavation, which has been carried out by dozens of specialists over ten years as part of a 180,000 euro project financed by the regional department of arts, education and the environment.

Two-and-a-half years old, the child was less than a meter tall and most probably a girl - a redhead. She was part of a Neanderthal community, the forerunner to homo sapiens , the species we all belong to. Her traces were found on August 29 on the Calvero de la Higuerra site in Pinilla del Valle, 90 kilometers from Madrid.

[FSogol]

1. Nice article. Thanks for posting. n/t

[zazen]

2. I don't think Neanderthals are "forerunners" to homo sapiens are they?

But there was some interbreeding--or at least that's the latest in the long debate.

[mike_c]

3. no, they were a parallel lineage....

Science journalism often gets stuff like that wrong.

[jwirr]

4. Red hair - interesting.