Homo heidelbergensis

Overview

Homo heidelbergensis sits at the great fork in the human tree. Many researchers see it as the common ancestral population that, in Africa, gave rise to Homo sapiens, and in Eurasia gave rise to the Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Its brain was nearly modern in size, and the archaeological traces it left — wooden spears, butchered big game, possibly deliberate disposal of the dead — reveal sophisticated planning and cooperation. (Note: the name is used differently by different scientists, and the African and European fossils may eventually be split.)

Anatomy & Body

H. heidelbergensis was tall, robust and powerfully built, with a large braincase, a heavy double-arched brow ridge, a broad face and no chin. The body was adapted to a range of climates, from African savanna to glacial Europe.

Brain & Cognition

Brain volumes of 1,100–1,400 cc overlap the modern human range. Combined with the archaeology, this points to advanced foresight: designing tools for future tasks, coordinating hunts of dangerous prey, and managing fire and shelter.

Behavior & Culture

The Schöningen spears (Germany, ~300,000 years old) are beautifully balanced wooden throwing spears — proof of planning depth and skilled woodworking. At Boxgrove (England), heidelbergensis butchered horse and rhino with Acheulean handaxes.

At Spain's Sima de los Huesos, dozens of individuals accumulated at the bottom of a deep shaft — possibly the earliest evidence of deliberate treatment of the dead.

Key Fossils

• The Mauer jaw (Germany) — the type specimen, found in 1907.
• Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain) — a vast assemblage of Neanderthal-precursor remains.
• Kabwe / “Broken Hill” skull (Zambia) — a key African specimen (sometimes called H. rhodesiensis).

Relationship to Us

If any single species deserves the title 'our immediate ancestor', it is heidelbergensis — the population whose children became the three great human lineages of the late Ice Age.