Homo heidelbergensis

Homo heidelbergensis.

Homo heidelbergensis is a species of early human that evolved at least 600,000 years ago. They spread across Africa, Asia and Europe hunting large animals and using simple stone tools before disappearing 250,000 years ago (2).

 How They Looked.

These early humans were physically similar to us in many ways being on average only slightly smaller than modern man. The real difference comes from the size and shape of the head. Facially a large forehead and low brow ridges combined with a small chin gave an unmistakably different look. Their elongated heads also resulted in a brain just 10% smaller than ours (1).

A reconstruction from the Natural History Museum (2)

Not so similar right?

 

 

How They Lived.

Evidence for the lifestyle lived by these early humans comes from two main sources, the tools they made and the bones they left behind. These bones however are not all humanoid. At Boxgrove near Chichester a heidelbergensis shin bone, many animal bones and stone tools have been discovered. The evidence here indicates that Homo heidelbergensis was a skilled hunter. Cut marks from hand axes on the bones are overlaid by the tooth marks of scavenging carnivores. This indicates that these early 'humans' were able to kill and butcher their prey without interruption from other dangerous predators such and wolves (4). In order to kill and butcher their food our ancestors would have used flint handaxes such as the example below. By flaking off excess stone a razor sharp edge would be produced.

Now known as Boxgrove man, the shin bone was found at the base of a chalk cliff that would, at the time of his death, have been right on the coast, a nearby stream would have provided fresh water and attracted animals to this site (3).

A Hand axe from Boxgrove (3)

Our Ancestors?

DNA evidence has shown that Humans and another of our early competetors, Neanderthals, had a common ancestor based 400,000 years ago. This means that both species evolved from the same source. Many scientists believe this ancestor could have been Homo heidelbergensis (2). However the widely dispersed population of heidelbergensis, and the differing climates of these habitats, means that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis evolved in very distinct locations, Neanderthals in Europe and Humans in Africa (5).

By Rob Jones

1: http://anthro.palomar.edu/homo2/mod_homo_1.htm

2: (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/human-origins/early-human-family/homo-heidelbergensis/index.html)

3: http://www.archaeology.co.uk/specials/the-timeline-of-britain/boxgrove.htm

4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/first_europeans1.shtml

5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/neanderthal_prog_summary.shtml