A view of the picturesque modern village of Untermassfeld, near which the prehistoric site is located. Winfried Gaenssler, Wikimedia Commons
Posted on 03/25/2016 5:53:52 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The late Early Pleistocene site near Untermassfeld, in Germany, is now well known for a rich array of fauna dating back to about 1.07 million years ago, including simple 'Mode 1' (or Oldowan-type) stone tools evidencing early human occupation. Now researchers Günter Landeck and Joan Garcia Garriga report, for the first time, evidence of early human butchery in the form of cut marks on animal bones and intentional hammerstone-related bone breakage. These human-modified bones were recovered in a small faunal subsample excavated from levels with simple 'Mode 1' stone tools. The butchered assemblage was found during fieldwork and surveying of ancient riverbanks and channel erosion sediments. The report authors state that the frequent occurrence of butchery traces on bones of large-sized herd animals, such as an ancient species of Bison, may suggest that the early human occupiers of the site had an enhanced need for meat because of changes resulting in a depletion of nutritive plants in winter. The study authors further note that early access to the carcasses before they were consumed by other carnivores made it possible for the early humans to acquire a sufficient amount of meat for subsistence. The researchers conclude that the stone tools and human-altered faunal remains at Untermassfeld provide evidence for the oldest early human settlement at European continental mid-latitudes, or about 50° N.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
A view of the picturesque modern village of Untermassfeld, near which the prehistoric site is located. Winfried Gaenssler, Wikimedia Commons
Muslim Refugees, right?
I thought everyone came out of Africa?
More like early DemocRats...that preyed on everything around them. Nothing has changed in a million years...well before Tammany Hall. :-)
Oh, for crying out loud.
That’s where we had the family reunion last summer.
Some of my cousins got so drunk that they couldn’t unlock their camp trailers and ended up using rocks to eat the barbecue.
Oh, and don’t get all high-fallutin’ on me like your cousins don’t touch the demon rum.
Lol! If your family’s secret recipe is illegal, you might be a redneck.
I’ll bet Merkel has their DNA.
Early Palestinians!
A human presence 1 million years ago conflicts with the standard evolution story that I was taught. There is a book titled, Forbidden Archeology, that also presented evidence of very ancient man.
According to a book about the Neanderthals (by Friedemann Schrenk and Stephanie Mueller) first published in 2005 (English translation, 2009), a date of 1.8 million years has been proposed for stone tools at a site in Spain. About a million years ago early humans had reached central Europe. This would be Homo erectus. A European variant of H. erectus called Homo heidelbergensis led to the Neanderthals. There is evidence for Homo heidelbergensis between 800,000 and 350,000 years ago in Spain, Italy, France, England, Germany, and Greece.
Didn't we already know about this?
“Forbidden Archeology”
That book is a real brain blower.
Needs to be read by anyone interested in Human history.
Drinkers? In *my* family? You're only saying that because the children learn rope skipping using the phrase "jack and a beer back".
Well, hell, if you were in Africa, wouldn't you want out?
Science is a method, not a body of knowledge, IOW, new information is possible (basically inevitable), leading to no fixed belief.
FA is an interesting book. It’s pretty darned thick, so is its sequel (can’t lay hands on either one, but have them both). One million years is nothing on their time scale, they accept finds of artifacts from billions-of-years-old strata. Generally that’s rejected by scientists. :’)
In a world 4.5 billion years old, that apparently cooled down within 100 million years of forming (liquid water was present, based on fossil data), and that went from Asian primates 45 million years ago — one percent of the age of the Earth — to hominids 5 million years ago — 1.1 percent of that — it’s difficult to NOT think of intelligent life having plenty of time to arise and get wiped out over and over.
Charlie: Don't worry. It's educational.
Alan: One Million Years B.C.? How is this educational?
Charlie: Raquel Welch running from dinosaurs in a fur bikini? What is that, if not history?
So lovely and clean, not like the US ghetto.
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