The Prince of Asturias Foundation
More than twenty stratigraphically sequenced excavations have been carried out in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos), at sites ranging from the second half of the Lower Pleistocene to the end of the Middle Pleistocene (over 1,000,000 to 120,000 years old). The different stages of this research were initiated in 1978 by a team put together and led by Professor Emiliano Aguirre. Beginning in 1982, the excavations began to yield the first traces of human activities. The period between 1988 and 1990 was marked by intense research activity, with the presentation of four undergraduate thesis reports and six PhD dissertations.
In 1992, a new phase had begun which was to produce the first ever interdisciplinary team for Quaternary Studies in Spain, formed by a group of PhDs and graduates in Biological and Geological Sciences and History, mostly from the Universities of Burgos, Complutense of Madrid, Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona and Zaragoza, in addition to researchers from the Spanish National Council for Research (Spanish acronym, CSIC), under the direction of Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell. This team has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science and Culture (currently the Ministry of Science and Technology), the Directorate General for Heritage and Cultural Promotion of the Regional Government of Castile-León and CSIC, among other bodies. In July 1992, the discovery of two quite complete skulls, in addition to other remains, at the “Sima de los Huesos” (Pit of Bones) site had a resounding impact on the international scientific community. Systematic excavations in the Sima de los Huesos began in 1984, since when more than 6,500 human fossils of the species Homo heidelbergensis, dating back over 500,000 years, have been unearthed. This is the largest accumulation of human fossils ever, to the extent that more human fossils have been found there than in all the other excavations on the planet for any period. Around 3,000 human fossil remains of about thirty individuals were unearthed at this sight during the excavations carried out in 1999 alone. This very likely comprises an anthropogenic accumulation of hominids belonging to the same biological population who lived in the Sierra de Atapuerca some 300,000 years ago. Moreover, in 1994, hominid remains dating back some 780,000 years ago were found in level 6 of the Gran Dolina site. These findings and the work of the research team have made Atapuerca an obligatory frame of reference for the study of European prehistory and a veritable paradigm for the study of human evolution.
The main sources of dissemination regarding the excavations are to be found in the books Atapuerca: a million years of history and Atapuerca. Our Ancestors and in the video Atapuerca: the Mystery of Human Evolution, which has received numerous national and international awards. In 1999, the Atapuerca Foundation was created in Burgos to provide support for the excavations and research carried out there and to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge generated by its scientific team. The following year, the Archaeological Site of Atapuerca joined the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 2010 saw the public opening of the Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos, which contains exhibits of dozens of actual pieces found at Atapuerca, whose mission is that of spreading knowledge of human evolution on the basis of the corresponding archaeological discoveries and scientific studies. The Atapuerca research team has received awards such as the Science and Research Prize of the “Castellanos y Leoneses del Mundo” Awards.
