Orce

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Orce, Spain
city

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Location of Orce
Country Spain
Province Granada
Municipality Orce
Area
  Total 324 km2 (125 sq mi)
Elevation 928 m (3,045 ft)
Population (2009)
  Total 1,333
  Density 4.1/km2 (11/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)

Orce is a municipality located in the province of Granada, in southeastern Spain. According to the 2009 census (INE), the city has a population of 1333 inhabitants.

Paleoanthropology

Orce is the location of the paleo-archaeological sites known as Barranco Leon, Venta Micena, and Fuentenueva 3, near the basin of an ancient lake where fossils have been preserved in sediment. Josep Gibert of the M. Crusafont Institute in Sabadell has led an excavation team there. He asserts that the sites have Oldowan-style stone tools dating between 1.5 and 1.8 million years ago. If the early estimates are supported, these would represent the oldest stone tool finds in Europe. [1] Other scholars prefer a more conservative date for the stone tools of 1.2 million years.[2] Together with the hominid remains at the Atapuerca Mountains, the tools are evidence that human ancestors settled in western Europe much earlier than scholars had thought, perhaps by 400,000 years or more.

External links

References

  1. Bower, Bruce. "Ancient Roads to Europe: African ancestors may have entered Europe surprisingly early", Science News, v. 151 no. 1. January 4, 1997. pp. 12-13, accessed 15 Nov 2010
  2. Balter, Michael. "In Search of the First Europeans", in Science, New Series. Vol. 291 No. 5509. March 2, 2001, pp. 1722-1725

Coordinates: 37°43′N 2°28′W / 37.717°N 2.467°W / 37.717; -2.467

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