H U M A N E V O L U T I O N Vo l . 13 - N. 2 (91 -96) - 1998

EV. Tobias OMSG, FRS Palaeo-anthropology Research Group, Department of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

Keywords: Hominids, early Europeans, lberia

Some comments on the case for Early Pleistocene Hominids in South-Eastern Spain

Several sites in the Orce Basin have revealed evidence of the presence of hominids in the Early Pleistocene. These remains are dated to over 1.0 million years, while they may be as old as 1.6 million years. The skeletal remains from Venta Micena in the Orce Basin show a molecular "fossil protein" pattern which aligns them with hominids, but not with equids. This is supported by the anatomi- cal evidence of the two humeral shafts from the Estrato Blanco in the Venta Micena deposits. The biparieto-occipital partial cal- varia shows some unusual features if VM-O is a hominid speci- men. The presence of a prominent crest on the internal surface of the occipital fragment adjacent to the point lambda is decid- edly unusual for a modern human calvaria. Moreover, the impressiones gyrorum, in the region where the superior parietal lobule of the cerebral hemisphere abutted against the calvaria, point to a bipartite superior parietal lobule with anterior and posterior moieties which, on the endocast, are clearly separated by a depression that represents a suleus. These morphological traits are rather puzzling if VM-O is a hominid, and at first they led me to hesitate over the anatomical identification of VM-O. However, the studies of Campillo (1989) and of Campillo and Barcelo (1986) suggest that the features of the fragment VM-O are compatible with those of a hominid. Because ! believe that we do not possess sufficient information on the variability of the endocranial and ectocranial manifestations of the sagittal suture and of its variance with age of the individual, in different homi- nid species .and different equid species, 1 have not adduced this pattern as evidence in support or rebuttal of the hominid status of VM-O.

At least two sets of remains from the Orce (Granada) district of South-Eastern Spain have been claimed to indicate the presence of hominids in that area in the Early Pleistocene, over one mill ion years ago. From my own observations on the original specimens, from the pub- lished evidence such as the volumes edited by Joseph Gibert-Clols (1989, 1993) and from the independent analysis by Derek A. Roe of Oxford University (1995), it may be stated that those remains from Venta Micena pose a somewhat tantalising challenge, whilst those from Fuente Nueva 3a are less problematical.

Venta Micena: the skeletal ev idence

Three specimens, a biparieto-occipital calvarial f ragment (VM-O), and two humeri compris- ing a juvenile diaphysis or shaft (VM-1960) and a probably adult port ion o f the shaft (VM- 3691), have been claimed to be o f human character. They were recovered f rom Estrato

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Blanco of the Venta Micena formation.

From my examination of the original specimens at Orce in September 1995, reinforced by the published morphological and quantitative data on these two specimens, I have no difficulty in accepting the two fossil humeri as hominid.

As regards the calvarial specimen, I was aware, at the time when I examined the original specimen, that a French colleague had suggested that this was derived from an equid skull and not from a hominid skull, a view which has apparently been espoused recently by a few Spanish colleagues. Several features of the calvarial fragment are worthy of special mention. One is a crest which lies at the posterior part of the inner surface of the specimen, reaches just over 0.5 centimetre in its maximum elevation, lies in or very close to the median sagittal plane (the midlane plane of the calvaria) and is hollowed or concave on its right face and convex on its left face. In modern human crania we find in this position the left or right lip, or both lips, of the groove of the great venous sinus that travels from anterior to posterior in or close to the midline of the calvaria, namely the superior sagittal sinus groove. In a recent human anatomi- cal specimen, the sinus enlarges from anterior to Posterior. Hence the groove on the endocra- nium deepens from front to back, so that, by the time the occipital bone is reached, the lips or at least one of the two lips is at maximum prominence. This is precisely the position where the strong lip or crest is present in the Venta Micena calvaria.

It would be unusual to find in modern human crania a crest as elevated as that of VM-0; but the palaeopathologist, Domingo Campillo (1989, 1993), from a study of many hundreds of recent human crania - both dried skulls and cranial radiographs of modern human subjects - has been able to find sinus groove lips as prominent as that of VM-0 in some modern humans. Thus, this factor on its own is insufficient to disqualify the calvaria of Venta Micena from hominid status.

A second feature that was of concern to me was the endocranial impressions in the region of the superior parietal lobule of the cerebrum (Tobias 1997). When I "read" these impressions with eye and fingertip, during the Orce International Conference in September 1995, it seemed to me that the marking of the superior parietal Iobule was divided rather sharply into two moieties, an anterior and a posterior, by a transverse crest which would have corre- sponded with a sulcus crossing the Iobule transversely. This transverse crest did not appear to represent the fissura parieto-occipitalis; however, it could have represented the pars marginalis sulci cinguli, in a case in which this marginal part was better developed than is usual in modern human brains.

There were thus two anatomical features of the calvaria VM-0 which appeared to me to be unusual, if this fragment had belonged to a human-like cranium. Neither of these two features is sufficient to disqualify the specimen from having belonged to a hominid: I stated this a t Orce, at the time when I examined the original specimen in September, 1995. However, in respect of both of these features, it must be admitted that we have very little available information on the variability of these two anatomical traits in the hominids that were living in the Early Pleistocene. If we take into account the known range o f variability of these two' traits in modern human crania, both features could be accommodated within the range of modern humans. I have not studied the range of variation of these two features in modern equid crania of young or adult equid specimens.

EARLY HOMINIDS FROM SPAIN 93

In my examination of the calvarial fragment VM-O I did not take into consideration another morphological variable about which there has been some controversy, namely the pattern of the sagittal suture of the calvaria. The original fractal analysis of the sagittal suture of VM-O by J. Gibert and P. Palmquist (1995) pointed strongly to its hominid affinities. However, doubts have subsequently been expressed on the basis of a different tracing of the sagittal suture, which appears to have been made on the endocranial surface, in contrast with the previously-studied tracing which appears to have been made on the outer surface of VM-O. The structure of the sagittal suture is highly variable from cranium to cranium on both the endocranial and the ectocranial surfaces of the calvaria. Even in the same specimen, it varies appreciably between the two surfaces. Moreover, changes in the patterns of the sagittal suture occur with age - and in a different way and at different times on the inner and the outer surfaces of the cranial bone. For these reasons, the study of this suture, even by the modern, refined technique of fractal analysis, is not very likely to throw definitive light on the taxonomic affinities of the specimen represented by VM-O. Obviously, different conclusions would be expected if one studied the patterns of the sagittal suture internally, from what would be learned if one studied the pattern externally. We know a good deal about the variability of this suture in some (but not all) populations of modern humans. I doubt whether we have such detailed information on the history of the suture in the life-cycle of modern members of the horse family. Moreover, we have little information on the variations of the sagittal suture in earlier species of hominids, such as Homo erectus, Neandertal populations, or even the so-called archaic Homo sapiens. Thus, on the basis of presently available knowledge, we cannot utilise the pattern of the sagittal suture for the identification of the species represented by VM-O.

I conclude that the pattern of the sagittal suture does not disprove, nor support, the claim that the cranium was of a hominid.

At Orce, I stated that the morphology of the calvaria VM-0 was compatible with hominid status, but that without further remains, one could not be 100% certain. Further, 1 stated without qualification that the nmorphology of the two humeri was fully compatible with hominid status. In the two years that have elapsed since then, I have seen no new evidence that would lead me to change this view. If one considers the three specimens as an ensemble, they provide evidence for the probable presence of hominids in Venta Micena at the time when the Estrato Blanco of the Venta Micena deposit was formed. At Orce in September 1995, 1 stated that I was more impressed by the evidence of the fossil proteins of the three bone specimens, as were determined by the studies of two different groups, using two different technical approaches. One group was that of Jerold Lowenstein, who was a pioneer in the radio-immuno-assay (RIA) of fossils and is recognised as one of the world 's leading authorities in such studies: his laboratory is in the University of California in San Francisco, U.S.A.. The other group was that of Concepcion Borja and Enrique Garcia Olivares (1995) of the University of Granada in Spain. Both groups detected human albumin in VM-0 and VM-1960; in addition, Lowenstein (1995) detected human collagen and transfer- tin in VM-0, while Borja 's team detected human immunoglobulin in VM-1960 and VM-3691. The convergence of the two laboratories, working independently of one another, by two different methods, provides very strong evidence in support of the conclusion that all three of

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the bones from Venta Micena are of hominid origin. For this reason, I stated at Orce that the evidence of the fossil proteins was even more convincing than that of the skeletal morphol- ogy. When the molecular and the skeletal data are considered together, the picture afforded by the bio-anthropological evidence is that the three bones are of human origin. Thus, on their own, they provide evidence that hominids were present in the Orce region well down in the Early Pleistocene. The case is strengthened when one takes into account the archaeological evi- dence, especially that from Fuente Nueve (vide infra).

Cultural evidence for Early Pleistocene hominids in South-Eastern Spain

Two kinds of cultural evidence have been adduced by Josep Gibert and his team in support of the presence of signs of hominid handiwork in the Venta Micena deposit: one relates to the modification of bones by breakage and cutmarks (Jimenez and Gibert, 1993). From scanning electron microscopic studies of those bones found in situ at Venta Micena which show appar- ent cutmarks, and a comparison of these apparent cutmarks with those previously identified on bones from Olduvai in Tanzania and Lake Turkana in Kenya, they have concluded that the Venta Micena marks are similarly to be regarded as signs of hominid activities. No other adequate explanation of the marks on the Venta Micena bones has been proffered (Roe, 1995). The bones affected were obtained from the Estrato Blanco from which the hominid bones emanated. The second line of cultural evidence relates to stones which have been recovered from Estrato Blanco at Venta Micena, and also from the earlier Estrato Negro at several other sites in the vicinity (such as Barranco del Paso-Cortijo Alfonso, Barranco Leon and Cortijo de Dona Milagros) (Gibert et al., 1993; Roe, 1995). I have examined but not studied these claimed artefacts and manuports myself, but I am impressed by the critical study by D.A. Roe of the stones which J. Gibert generously placed at the disposal of himself and his Oxford team. Fractured stones transported to the site are certainly present and Roe acknowledges that some "struck" surfaces are present, as also some struck flakes, although he cannot exclude the possibility that they could have been produced by natural mechanical forces. On the other hand, when one considers the sources of various rocks represented in the collection of stones found among the Early Pleistocene animal bones, they have all been transported from at least a few kilometres away. Of them, Roe states, " (Apart from human portage) There seems to be no obvious natural explanation (such as the presence of stream channels) that could account for their presence where they were found. They cannot obviously be rejected as manuports (Pieces of stone which were not worked, but whose presence where discovered is specifically, attributable to transport by humans) until a good alternative expla- nation for their presence has been provided" (Roe, 1995: 7). Thus, there is suggestive evidence for the presence of the marks of hominid cultural activities at Venta Micena, although on the basis of the stockpile of material which was available at the time when Derek Roe made his independent study, the case had not yet been irrefutably proven. More material needs to be recovered from Venta Micena and to be subjected to the most critical study, such as that to which Jimenez and Gibert (1993) have subjected the cutmarks on the Venta Micena bones. To summarise on the contribution which Venta Micena has made to our thinking on early hominids in Europe, from that site specifically, the identification - by anatomical and molecu-

EARLY HOMINIDS FROM SPAIN 95

lar means - of hominid bones provides critical evidence that hominids were present at Venta Micena in the Early Pleistocene. Cultural evidence of the hominid presence would seem to be supported by the quartzite and silex pieces which were found in situ with the animal bones, both the stones which appear to have been modified, and those which were probably manuports.

Fuente Nueva

Stronger cultural evidence for the presence of hominids at the same time has been forthcom- ing from Fuente Nueve 3 in the Orce Basin. Indisputable stone artefacts have been recovered from the same horizon as has yielded Early Pleistocene fauna (as has been revealed by the excavation of A. Turq, which is quoted by Roe, 1995). Broken stones as well as probable manuports have been found also in the older Estrato Negro at some of the other Orce Basin sites, such as Barranco Leon.

Comments

Further excavations of Estrato Blanco and Estrato Negro, at those sites in the Orce Basin where these two strata are preserved and available for excavation, are an important objec- tive for the immediate future. Among the purposes will clearly be the need for more hominid skeletal remains, for indisputable stone artefacts found in association with the Early Pleistocene animal bones, and confirmation, over a wider area, of the dating that has been claimed for the Orce hominid remains. Josep Gibert and his associates have claimed a dating, based largely on paleomagnetic results, of 1.6-1.8 million years before the present (Gibert, Arribas et al. 1993). That would be close to the very oldest part of the Early Pleistocene. The Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary is at present placed at 1.8 million years ago, although an INQUA Committee under the chairmanship of T.C. Partridge, is at present investigating the perceived need for that boundary to be shifted back in time to a little older than 2.0 million years. This claim by Gibert and his associates was discussed at the Orce Meeting in 1995. Some investigators held that the paleomagnetic results were compatible with a less ancient dating, but nobody held that it could be less than 1.2-1.0 million years. Even on this less archaic dating, these are the oldest dates for the presence of hominids in Europe, exceeding even the dating of 0.8 million years for the hominid remains from Gran Dolina, Atapuerca (Burgos), in northern Spain. Already there is evidence from elsewhere - Ubeidiya in Israel, Dmanisi in Georgia, Java in Indonesia and, probably also China, - for the presence of hominids out of Africa well before 1.0 million years ago. In Europe, properly speaking, the Orce Basin has furnished evidence for the presence of the oldest hominids in the continent. The biochemical studies of VM-0 by Borja et al. (1993) and Borja et al. (1995), and by Lowenstein (1995), leave little room for doubt that the affinities of the proteins of VM-0 lie with the hominids, not with equids, to the crania of which VM-0 has been likened by some colleagues. The signs of cutmarks on some of the Venta Micena bones, and the evidence of stone- collecting and modifying at Venta Micena Estrato Blanco, as well as at Fuente Nueva 3, add a convincing cultural dimension to the testimony that a tool-using and tool-making hominid was present in the Orce Basin during the Early Pleistocene, between 1.6 and 1.0 million years ago.

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The totality of the evidence, biological and cultural, from the Orce Basin points strongly to this conclusion:

Orce has provided the first evidence that ancient humans were present in Europe well over a million years ago.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - Dr. Josep Gibert-Clols kindly allowed me access to the sites and to the original material from Venta Micena and other sites in the Orce Basin. My understanding of the problem of the Orce and Murcia remains has been greatly helped by discussions and exchanges of correspondence with Professor Josep Gibert-CLols, Dr Domingo Campillo, Professor Michael Walker, Dr. Paul Palmquist and Dr. Bienvenido Martinez Navarro, to all of whom I am most grateful. Sfiso Mthembu kindly typed the manuscript.

References

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Borja, C., Garcia-Pacheco, J.M., Ramirez-Lopez, J.P. and Garcia-Olivares, E., 1993. Cuantificacion y caracterization de la albumina fosil del craneo de Orce. In: J. Gibert, D. Campillo, E. Garcia Olivares, A. Malgosa, F. Martinez and B. Martinez (eds.). Projecto Orce-Cueva Victoria (1988-1992). Presencia humana en el pleistocene inferior de Granada y Murcia, pp. 415-423. Orce (Granada): Museo de Prehistoria Josep Gibert.

Campillo, D., 1989. Estudio del hombre de Orce. In: J. Gibert, D. Campillo and E. Garcia Olivares (eds.). Los restos humanos de Orce y Cueva Victoria, pp. 341-370. Sabadell: Instituto Paleontologia M. Crusafont.

Campillo, D., 1993. Estudio del hombre de Orce. In: J. Gibert, D. Campilo and E. Garcia Olivares (eds.). Los restos humanos de Orce y Caeva Victoria, pp. 341-370. Sabadell: Instituto Paleontologia M. Crusafont.

Campillo, D. and Barcelo, J.A., 1989: Morphometric study of the internal surface of the squama occipitalis. In: J. Gibert, D. Campillo and E. Garcia Olivares (eds.). Los restos hurnanos de Orce y Cueva Victoria, pp: 109-186. Sabadell: Instituto Paleontologia M. Crusafont.

Gibert, J. (e&), 1993. Projecto Orce - Cueva Victoria (1988-1992): Presencia Humana en el Pleistoceno Inferior de Granada y Murcia Orce, Granada: Museo de Prehistoria Josep Gibert.

Gibert, J., Arribas, A., Martinez, B., Albadalejo, S., Gaete, R., Gibert, L., Penas, C. and Torrico, R., 1993. Sintesis ,cronoestratigrafica del Pleistoceno inferior de la region de Orce. In: J. Gibert, D., Campillo, E. Garcia Olivares, A. Mal~osa, F. Martinez and B. Martinez, (eds.) Projecto Orce-Cueva Victoria (1988- 1992). Presencia humana en el Pleistoceno inferior de Granada y Mttrcia, pp. 107-112. Orce (Gra- nada): Museo de Prehistoria Josep Gibert.

Gibert, J. and Palmquist, P., I995. Fractal analysis of the Orce skull sutures. J. Hum. Evol., 28: 561-575. Gibert-Clols, J., Valero, D.C. and Olivares, E.G. (eds.), 1989. Los Restos Humanos de Orce y Cueva

Victoria. Barcelona, Instituto Palaeontologia M. Crusafont. Jimenez, C. and Gibert, J., t993. Estudio comparado de los "cut marks" de Venta Micena. In Gibert, J. (ed.).

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Lowenstein, J., 1995. Immunological reactions in fossil bones from Orce. Congresso lnternacional de Paleontologia Hnmana. Orce: Granada.

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Tobias, P.V., 1997. (in press) Were the lower and middle Pleistocene Europeans capable of spoken lan- guage? In: Hominids and their Environment in the European Lower and Middle Pleistocene (ed. J. Gibcrt). Proceedings of International Congress of Human Palaeontology, Orce, Spain, September 1995.

Received June 10, 1997 Accepted July 10, 1997