The Anatomical Record celebrates the magnificence of human antiquity from the Sima de los Huesos caves of Atapuerca, Spain, in a novel Special Issue

Abstract

Spain has long been known as the birth home of many treasures of human history. From the unmatched grandeur of the Alhambra in Granada, Córdoba's history of architectural marvels and as dwelling for the incomparable genius of polymath Moses Ben Maimon (Maimonides), the emotion-grabbing insights and visualizations provided by Picasso, the sense-numbing genius of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, to the countless gifts shared with the world at Madrid's Prado Museum, the pulse and vibrancy of much of humanity's history has majestically been presented. Equaling, if not surpassing, these gifts are those that have been uncovered from the earth itself. Treasures that are us from our past: the great fossil finds from Atapuerca.

First, for full disclosure, we note that our journal, The Anatomical Record, has an enduring love, and permanent place among our pages, for Spain and its brilliance. Indeed, our Editorial Board has met thrice in Spain since 2011 (2011, 2015, and 2019), greater than in any other country (JL would note that The Anatomical Record Board has not met in New York City—JL's homeland—even once during that period, but who's complaining!). Our collective adoration for all things Spanish may derive in part from our past Editor-in-Chief, Kurt Albertine's, appreciation (to put it gently) for Spanish wines and coauthor JL's too hearty appreciation of the ubiquitous tapas. More likely, it is attributable to the influence of our beloved Spanish Associate Editor, José-Luis Trejo of the Cajal Institute in Madrid, whose influence on our Board and journal has been profound. Indeed, our segue into encountering, and appreciating, the vibrancy of Spanish science and scholarship has been in great part due to his diligence and energy in opening the vault of such a cornucopia for us. His energy, for example, has resulted in a number of Special and Thematic Paper Issues of our journal that highlight Spanish science and Spanish scientists (e.g., examination of damage and disease to peripheral nerves, Trejo, 2018, Laitman & Albertine, 2018; studies, primarily by Spanish neuroscientists, on new research on the cranial nerves, Trejo, 2019a, 2019b, Laitman & Albertine, 2019a, 2019b; and a deep dive into the extraordinary history of Spanish neuroscience, De Carlos, 2020, Laitman & Albertine, 2020).

Again, in large part thanks to José-Luis, liaisons were made with the team of paleontologists/paleoanthropologists/archeologists/anatomists exploring the incomparable fossil-rich realm of the Sierra de Atapuerca in north-central Spain, near the historic city of Burgos (Figure 1). For JL and HFS, who were both hatched from a paleoanthropological egg, the growing impact of findings from this realm has been well-known throughout our careers. Indeed, the mountains of Atapuerca—a flat-topped anticline formed by limestone rocks whose sediments were deposited between 70 and 65 million years ago (mya)—have yielded an extraordinary, unmatched record of human fossil ancestors dating as far back as 1.2 mya, earlier than any other European site. Atapuerca locales—such as the Sima (pit, chasm, fissure in Spanish) del Elefante in the Trinchera del Ferrocarril (Railway Trench), in which a mandibular fragment and foot phalanx dated at c. 1.2 mya were discovered in 2007; the Gran Dolina in which human ancestors dating over 800,000 years ago were discovered in 1994; and, the focus of this Special Issue, the Sima de los Huesos (vide infra)—are now places of reverence for those who seek to understand humanity's past.

For some decades, the realms of Atapuerca have been lovingly (and energetically!) explored and analyzed by what has come to be known as “The Atapuerca Team.” This holy trio consists of Juan-Luis Arsuaga from the Complutense University of Madrid Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas and the Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, who has shepherded work from the Sima de los Huesos; Eudald Carbonell at the Rovira I Virgili University of Tarragona who has overseen most of the archeological material, particularly from the Trenchina del Ferrocaril; and José María Bermúdez de Castro who led teams analyzing material on aspects of human evolution, archeology, and mammalian paleontology at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid (see the detailed historical overview in this issue by Arsuaga et al.; Arsuaga et al., 2024; see also Trejo, 2024, this issue). This group has collectively unearthed and analyzed findings that have made Atapuerca one of the most significant sites in all of human prehistory. Their impact on understanding human evolutionary history has been unique; indeed, they have made indelible marks in human prehistory and on those who study it. JL, much closer in age to the fossils than HS, has known members of the team, particularly Arsuaga and Bermúdez de Castro, since the early 1980s, often interacting (more correctly, sitting in awe) at international forums in which their many findings have been unfurled.

This month's Special Issue, “Human fossils from the Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain): Forty Years of Discoveries and Research” has focused upon the material from that iconic site. The issue has been Guest Edited by Arsuaga, and co-guest edited by members of his internationally renowned Sima de los Huesos team: Ignacio Martínez of the Universidad de Alcalá, Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología; Rolf Quam of the Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Compotortamiento Humanos, Universidad de Alcalá Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología, Binghamton University, and the American Museum of Natural History; José-Miguel Carretero of the Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología, Universidad de Burgos Laboratorio de Evolución Humana and Unidad Asociada de I + D + i al CSIC Vidrio y Materiales del Patrimonio Cultural; and Carlos Lorenzo, of the Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Àrea de Prehistòria, department d'Història de l'Art; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana I Evolució Social. Together with scientists from around the globe, this team of Atapuerca excavators/scholars have documented the Sima de los Huesos material from teeth to toes, with accompanying analyses of the rich fauna, to sculpt an unmatched volume on this unique site. The end result is a paleoanthropological classic in scholarship that documents the history of the site, its centrality for comprehending the complexities of the European Pleistocene, and, indeed, its importance in understanding the path of human history itself.

In concert with this extraordinary documentation and assessment of the material from Sima de los Huesos in our journal, and in hearty celebration of the event and of the guest editors and entire Atapuerca team, The Anatomical Record in cooperation with the Universidad de Burgos, Universidad de Alcalá, and the 25th anniversary of the Fundación Atapuerca, will be sponsoring a unique symposium, “Forty Years of Excavation and Research in the Sima de los Huesos” in July of this year, 2024. At this landmark symposium, the authors of the issue will be presenting and discussing their work, alongside invited world leaders in paleoanthropology. In addition, homage will be given to several prominent researchers who will be retiring from excavation at the site. In all, a most special fiesta celebrating our ancestors and those that have brought them “back to life.”

There are moments in one's life that make indelible marks on our memories. These, differ, of course, for each of us. One that we have seen that affects everyone is the first time that they hold the remains of a fossil human ancestor. The awe-inspiring, sacred moment of reaching across the millennia to touch the body and spirit of our own origins is, in a word, transformative. We at The Anatomical Record are both proud and humbled to have the opportunity to offer at least a small moment of such contact through this novel Special Issue. We hope you, like us, will take a journey back in time by exploring the science and the history that speaks to us from our fossil past. Welcome to the wonders from Atapuerca.