HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS
• This species lived between 300,000 and 600,000 years ago. The African fossils tend to be older than those from Europe. Fossils from Gran Dolina in Spain date to 800,000 years old, and may be Homo heidelbergensis or a different species, Homo antecessor. • Fossils of this species have been found scattered across Africa and Europe. A fossilised skullcap discovered in northern India’s Narmada Valley may also be Homo heidelbergensis and if so, currently represents the easternmost occurrence of this species. Important sites include Lake Turkana, Bodo, Ndutu, Kabwe, Elandsfontein, Petralona, Mauer, Steinheim, Arago, Boxgrove, Swanscombe and Narmada Key physical features
Body size and shape • fossil evidence regarding body size and shape is currently limited but leg bones indicate they were tall, reaching about 180 centimetres in height and had relatively long legs like their earlier ancestor, Homo ergaster. • the shinbone’s thickness and bony ridges indicate that these people were strongly built. Brain • brain was large, averaging approximately 1250 cubic centimetres in size, representing 1.9% of their body weight • frontal and parietal lobes of the brain were enlarged and may indicate an increase in brain complexity Skull • small post-orbital constriction behind the eye sockets. • a moderate, double arched brow ridge and a short, sloping forehead lay above the eyes. The brow ridge was more arched than that of the earlier species, Homo ergaster. The sloping forehead resembled those found in earlier species rather than the vertical foreheads of modern humans. • nasal opening was relatively wide Jaws and teeth • jaws were shorter than those of earlier species resulting in a face with only a slight projection • some members of this species possessed a gap, called the retromolar space, behind the third molars (or wisdom teeth) at the back of the jaw. Others had only a tiny gap or no gap. • lower jaw was strongly built for the attachment of strong chewing muscles • as with earlier species, the lower jaw did not have a protruding, pointed chin • teeth were arranged in the jaw so that they formed a parabolic shape (curved at the front then splayed out toward the back) • teeth were smaller than those of earlier species but were larger than those of modern humans Limbs • lower legs were relatively long. Limb proportions such as these represent an adaptation to tropical conditions as they provide a larger skin surface to help cool the body. These limb proportions are similar to those found later in Homo sapiens and contrast with the short lower legs that developed in the Neanderthals. • leg bones tended to be thick and strongly built.