Recent Discovery in Homoheidelbergensis

Homo heidelbergensis

Around 200,000 to 700,000 years ago a species was roaming the earth that was similar to

modern man. The discovery Homo heidelbergensis was groundbreaking in many ways from their use

of tools to their physical attributes to potentially being the earliest form of Homo sapien. This species

may reach back in time to 1.3 million years ago, and been through out the world touching parts of Asia,

Africa, and Europe. There are key discoveries yet to be known about this species but the discoveries

that we have made regarding Homo heidelbergensis are shaping the way we look to the past.

Many scientist believe this species is ancestral to our own. Some evidence to suggest this is that

it is the first early human species to live in colder climates. Homo heidelbergensis lived at the time of

the oldest known control of fire and use of wooden spears. This was the first human species to

routinely hunt large animals. Remains of animals such as wild deer, horses, hippos and rhinos with

butchery marks on their bones have been found together at sites with Homo heidelbergensis. Primary

indication of this was the discovery of wooden spears of around 400,000 years old at the site of

Schoningen, Germany, which were found together with the remains of more than 10 butchered horses.

There is evidence to suggest Homo heidelbergensis was capable of controlling fire by building hearths,

or early fireplaces by 790,000 years ago. Fire-altered tools and burnt wood have been found at a site in

Israel to evoke this. Tribes probably gathered around hearths sharing food, staying warm, and to guard

off predators.

In 1908 near Heidelberg, Germany, a german workman named Daniel Hartmann stumbled upon a

mandible in the Roth sandpit just north of the village of Mauer. This mandible was nearly complete

except missing the premolars and the first two left molars. Hartmann gave it to Professor Otto

Schoetensack from the University of Heidelberg who identified and named the fossil. The next Homo

Heidelbergensis remains were found in France, Italy, and Spain.