Oldest human traces in Europe found on Spain's Iberian Peninsula

The journal "Earth-Science Reviews" published an article suggesting that the oldest traces of hominids in Europe are located on the Iberian Peninsula, dating back as far as 1.3 million years.

Research on human evolution and migration constantly brings new discoveries. One of the most fascinating questions is how humans traveled from Africa to Europe. The latest discoveries at archaeological sites in Orce, located in southern Spain, shed new light on this issue.

The traces of humans found in Orce, dated at 1.3 million years, are the oldest discovered in Europe. This unique find supports the theory that hominids arrived in Europe via Gibraltar. Previously, it was assumed that the migration might have occurred from the east, through the other side of the Mediterranean Sea. This research was conducted by a team led by Lluis Gibert of the University of Barcelona.

The new dating of these traces is based on the analysis of paleomagnetic data from the Orce region. This technique studies changes in Earth's magnetic poles resulting from its internal dynamics. These changes are recorded in minerals and can be precisely dated.

Thanks to the numerous sedimentary layers found in Orce, the obtained data is extremely precise. This allows scientists to more accurately determine when hominids appeared in Europe, marking another step in unraveling the mysteries of human evolution.

"The uniqueness of these sites lies in the very long sequence of sedimentary layers, exceeding 260 feet in length," explained Gibert. He added that such sites are often found in caves or very short stratigraphic sequences, which do not allow for the reconstruction of long paleomagnetic sequences where various magnetic pole reversals can be found.

The researchers also used studies of faunal remains found at various sites in Orce to help establish their findings. The fauna varied depending on the period and was compared to fauna found at early Pleistocene sites in other parts of Europe.