Homo heidelbergensis Paleoart

Description

Reconstruction of the specimen popularly known as “Miguelón” of the Homo heidelbergensis species.

This hyperrealistic reconstruction is made to order in silicone and natural hair.

The remains of “Miguelón” include a skull (Skull 5 or AT700) and cervical vertebrae and were discovered in the Atapuerca mountain range. The skull is exceptionally preserved due to the conditions of the site where it was found. It belonged to an individual who died at around 35 years of age. It is difficult to know if it is the skull of a man or a woman. The teeth are very worn, especially the incisors.

In addition to numerous minor blows to the skull, he had a very serious infection on the left side of the face caused by the fracture and subsequent infection of a tooth, which probably caused the death of this individual. Our reconstruction, despite being based on this skull, has omitted the bone sequelae of said infection since they deform the face.

A study of the DNA of bones recovered from the site of the sinkhole has placed the population of Atapuerca of these dates and therefore this skull, in a population precursor to the Neanderthals, rendering the classification within Homo heidelbergensis obsolete.

Bibliography:

Matthias Meyer, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Cesare de Filippo, Sarah Nagel, Ayinuer Aximu-Petri, Birgit Nickel, Ignacio Martínez, Ana Gracia, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Eudald Carbonell, Bence Viola, Janet Kelso, Kay Prüfer y Svante Pääbo (14 de marzo de 2016). «Letter:Nuclear DNA sequences from the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins». Nature