Atapuerca

Atapuerca is a commune, located at the north of the Spain, Mancomunidad: Del Arlanzón/Rios Arlanzón there Vena, comarca of “Burgos” in the the autonomous Community of Castille-and-León, province of Burgos.

Atapuerca one would translate by: attach-pig, does it of it was Altaporca, like “top” for Aimery Picaud, in its Guide of the Pilgrim.

Population: 200 inhabitants in 2004.

Geography

To 17 km in the east of Burgos, on Rio Arlanrzòn.
The mounts of Atapuerca, named Matagrande on the charts, offer a landscape of a great severity, that a military zone does not return smiling more.

History

Atapuerca have a very important role in the prehistory of the Man since in this place one located the remainders of the Homo antecessor, the older man of Europe (800 000 years).

Atapuerca is mentioned in a document of the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña, dated July 5th 963. In this document doña Fronilde makes an important donation with the monastery of Cardeña and indicates the geographical limits of the population: since Villafría they follow a line which by Rio Vena and since this one “by the top what is continuous Mountain of Atapuerca to the church of San Vicente which is on the Cave and directly follows the way which arrives at Arlanzón”. The C-W communication which the scribe employs is " Adtaporka".

September 1st, 1054 is an important date in the history of Atapuerca since in this place was held the battle of Atapuerca between the kingdoms of Castille and Navarre after the death of Sanche III the Large one. A fratricidal fight opposed the kings García el of Nájera (Navarre) and Ferdinand III of Leòn and Castille, (1037-1065) in spite of the intervention of four abbots: Íñigo d' Oña; Sisebuto de Cardeña; García de Arlanza and of Domingo de Silos, to restore peace.
In the battle (represented every year by the inhabitants of the city) the Navarrese Garcia El de Nájera, overcome by his Castilian brother Ferdinand, lost at the same time his province and the life.
To XIIe century, Alphonse VII granted to the city a fuero, before yielding it to the Ordre of Jean Saint of Jerusalem.

In 1591, Atapuerca appears in a census with 18 other communes in a community called Montes of Oca. This community counts approximately 3.000 inhabitants.

In 1843, Atapuerca counts 203 inhabitants and the municipal council is chaired by the abbot of the church San Martín. Moreover the city has an elementary school, whose teacher perceives 200 réales and 24 arpents of bread.

Culture and inheritance

The Pilgrimage of Compostelle

On the Camino frances of the Pilgrimage of Saint-Jacques-to-Compostelle.
One comes from the Agés, the next commune is Burgos, which is the fifth halt of the Guide of the Pilgrim.

Current Casa Hospital was preceded by a hospital for the pilgrims which functioned until the XVIIIe century.

Monk

The church San Martín of the end of the Gothic, Rebirth beginning.

Civilian

Paleolithic layers of Atapuerca

The history of the layers starts in 1976 when the mining engineer Trino Torres and the anthropologist Emiliano Aguirre found in the mountain of the prehistoric fossils of bear, with several human fossils. The excavations started in 1978 in two of the three principal layers: Gran Dolina and Sima of los Huesos .

  • the layer of the Gran Dolina , whose sequence is powerful of 18 meters, delivered vestiges whose age lies between a million years and - 100.000 years before J. - C. These vestiges include remainders of the species Homo antecessor , the last common ancestor between the Homme of Néandertal and our species, Homo sapiens . They include/understand also various tools, of the animal fossils and pollens. The age of the fossils of the Homo antecessor is estimated at 800.000 years.

  • the layer of Sima of los Huesos contains the most important whole of the osseous fossils of second half of the average Pléistocène, of - 500.000 until - 120.000 years before J. - C. the bones belong to a group of some 30 skeletons of the species Homo heidelbergensis (regarded as the ancestor of the Homme of Néandertal). The age of these prénéardertaliens is estimated between 300  000 and 420  000 years. They seem to be thrown intentionally in the cavity; the absence of animal bones, of marks of teeth of vultures and tools (except for double-side) indicate that of a camping but rather of an intentional deposit within the framework of a funerary Rite it is not a question.

The site was registered with the World heritage of UNESCO in 2000.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • Localization on the chart

  • the Way of San Juan de Ortega in Burgos

  • the paleolithic Layer, two sites:

  • the archaeological Layer, the site of UNESCO
  • Science


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