Atapuerca Mountains

Atapuerca Mountains

Sierra de Atapuerca
Atapuerca Mountains panorama
Location in Spain Show map of Province of Burgos Atapuerca Mountains (Castile and León) Show map of Castile and León Atapuerca Mountains (Spain) Show map of Spain
Location	near Atapuerca, Ibeas de Juarros
Region	Burgos, Castile and León
Coordinates	42°22′0″N 3°31′20″W / 42.36667°N 3.52222°W / 42.36667; -3.52222
History
Periods	Paleolithic
Associated with	Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis
Site notes
Excavation dates	since 1964
Archaeologists	Francisco Jordá Cerdá
Website	http://www.atapuerca.org/
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Archaeological Site of Atapuerca
Criteria	Cultural: (iii)(v)
Reference	989
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)
Area	284.119 ha (702.07 acres)

The Atapuerca Mountains (Spanish: Sierra de Atapuerca) is a karstic hill formation near the village of Atapuerca in the province of Burgos (autonomous community of Castile and Leon), northern Spain.

In a still ongoing excavation campaign, rich fossil deposits and stone tool assemblages have been discovered which are attributed to the earliest known hominin residents in Western Europe.^[1] This "exceptional reserve of data" has been deposited during extensive Lower Paleolithic presence, as the Atapuerca Mountains served as the preferred occupation site of Homo erectus, Homo antecessor, Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis^[2] communities. The earliest specimen so far unearthed and reliably dated confirm an age between 1.2 million and 630,000 years.

The Archaeological site of Atapuerca is a World Heritage Site. Some finds are exhibited in the nearby Museum of Human Evolution, in Burgos.