Barcelona Part 2: Paleolithic Catalonia's First People

Homo antecessor (the "pioneers")

A family portrait of new immigrants. Multiple hominins--human species that existed before homo sapiens (modern humans) arrived on the scene. All the other species have since become extinct or have been absorbed into the gene pool of Homo sapiens. The drawing above is an artist's conception of Homo antecessor, the first people who populated Europe (antecessor means "pioneer"). They may have well been the link between the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, but this is disputed.

Homo antecessor arrived in Spain about 1.2 million years ago. They came either overland from the Middle East or possibly across the Mediterranean from North Africa. Their fossil bones and tools were discovered in 1994 in northern Spain's Sierra Atapuerca. Physically, they had powerful upper bodies, long limbs, and had an average height between 162.3-186.8cm (5'4"-6'2"). Their faces were more like modern humans than earlier hominins. (Photo from Sciencephoto.com) 

Homo antecessor tools. These simple tools were used for butchering meat and smashing bones for marrow. Homo antecessor lived in the Spanish highlands when it was warm and migrated to the coast when it got cold. There is no evidence that they made clothing, probably because the climate when they existed was relatively mild. There is also no evidence they used fire. Fossils indicate that a popular form of prey was the local deer and, lacking fire, they ate the meat raw.

There is evidence of cannibalism from butchering marks on some Homo antecessor bones. The similarity of the cuts to animal butchering indicates that this was probably for dietary rather than ritual reasons. Whether they actively hunted other groups or simply ate their own dead in dire circumstances is unclear. Somewhere around 800,000 years ago Homo Antecessor disappears from the Spanish fossil records, possibly due to increasing cold from an ice age. (Photo from Wikipedia).

Homo neanderthalensis (the Neanderthals)

A pair of Neanderthals debate the deeper meanings of cave art. Neanderthals may have arrived in Spain as early as 200,000 years ago. Their possible routes include overland from the Balkans or across the straits at Gibraltar, when ice age sea levels were lower. In Catalonia, to the north of Barcelona, Neanderthal fossils were found in a coastal cave called Cova del Gegant. Others were discovered at an inland site called Cova Serinya. Both caves were periodically used by Neanderthals roughly between 90,000 and 50,000 years ago. 

Until recently, this species has gotten a very bad press. Neanderthals have been portrayed as slow, dull-witted, unable to speak, and lacking in sophisticated stone age technology, art or symbolic thought. Supposedly, the only thing they were good at was killing large, slow-moving game like mammoths. Recent studies have proven all this to be false. 

Neanderthals coordinate their attack on a trapped mammoth.  Neanderthal brains were about the size of Homo Sapiens and their eyes and ears were larger and probably more acute. Physically heavier and stronger than modern humans, their leg muscles indicate they were built for short distance bursts of speed while hunting in their cold, heavily forested environment. By contrast, Homo Sapiens were physically more suited to long-distance pursuits over open savannas. Newly discovered Neanderthal hyoid bones (throat bones that allow speech) indicate the ability to talk and thus coordinate activities.

The oldest Neanderthal tools found in Spain date back 90,000 years. Neanderthals utilized fire and crafted increasingly sophisticated stone, wood, and bone tools. A variation of their bone tool for working leather is still used today. They also crafted articles for personal adornment. Those living near a coast ate large amounts of seafood as well as meat. They painted on Spanish cave walls and left mysterious stone circles that suggest the ability to make plans. They cared for injured or crippled family members, sometimes for many years. Neanderthals who died were sometimes given ritual burials. 

Today, non-African humans contain somewhere between 1-6% Neanderthal DNA. This indicates that they interbred with Homo sapiens. There is also evidence of cultural and technological exchanges between the two groups, although there may also have been conflicts. Neanderthals disappeared in most places about 40,000 years ago. Exactly why is still unclear, but extermination by Homo sapiens is a possibility. Modern humans have exterminated many other species.

 

Alternatively, climate and environmental changes may have favored modern humans over Neanderthals. A new theory points to a "volcanic winter" caused by a giant eruption in Italy about 40,000 years ago. The Neanderthal groups that survived would have been isolated and dispersed. They may simply have been absorbed into newly arriving waves of Homo sapiens. Somewhere between 28,000 and 24,000 years ago, the last of Europe's Neanderthals died out in Gibraltar. Ironically, that may well have been their point of arrival. 

Homo sapiens (that's us!)

Homo sapiens looking for Spain...are we there yet? Our species originated in Africa as much as 350,000 years ago. In 2019, Homo sapiens fossils were discovered in Greece and dated to 210,000 years ago. Migration into the rest of Europe, including Spain, was a very slow series of advances and retreats. 

The advances north occurred when periodic ice ages absorbed huge quantities of the earth's water. This caused North African lakes and rivers to dry out, forcing animals to move north toward the wetter climate just south of the glaciers. Since Homo sapiens depended upon the migrating animals for food, clothing, and tools, they followed them. 

If the glaciers retreated, more of southern Europe opened up to the migrants. If the glaciers advanced, Homo sapiens were pushed back, sometimes completely out of Europe. About 43,000 years ago, modern humans arrived in Spain, probably along the Catalonian coast from France, but they may also have come through Gibraltar. 

In Catalonia, Homo sapiens fossils have been discovered at Cove de Serinyi. The cave appears to have been a natural way station, since it had previously been used by the Neanderthals, as well as the even earlier Homo antecessor. Since then, the coastal route through Catalonia has been followed in both directions by countless migrating groups and invading armies.

Homo sapiens defend their catch from equally hungry predators.  Wooly mammoth fossils dating to as recently as 30,000 years ago have been found in southern Spain, so they would definitely have been on our ancestors' menu. The primary weapon for hunting or defense at that time would have been a spear, tipped with a stone point. Since these early spears were only effective when thrusted or thrown at short range, killing large animals like a mammoth or lion would have been dangerous work.

The tool kit of Homo sapiens was varied and versatile. After their arrival in Spain, and for the next 38,000 years or so, the Homo sapiens hunter-gatherer lifestyle became one of increasing complexity and sophistication. This was particularly true in the range of tools they made. The invention of specialized tools to make other tools was a major technological leap forward. 

These changes didn't occur in a vacuum. As mammoth, bison, and other large mammals disappeared due to climate change and overhunting, new technologies were needed to hunt smaller animals. In addition, a growing reliance on seafood resulted in the development of specialized tools like bone harpoons with serrated edges, barbed fish hooks, and nets. (Photo from The Open University)

The atlatl was a major technological advance in weaponry. An atlatl (top photo) is a stick with a notch on one end, into which is fitted a short spear or dart. The earliest atlatl yet found dates back 17,000 years. The word comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs, who still employed it when the Spanish arrived. Dog owners may not realize it, but they use a variation of the atlatl when they throw a tennis ball to their pet, using a flexible plastic rod with cup on one end. A different purpose, but the principal is the same. 

Use of an atlatl not only increases the range of a throw, but also the force and impact of the dart. The lower photo shows how an atlatl was launched. Hunters could attack their game from a much greater distance than with a hand-held spear, improving their chance of surprise. If a hit was achieved, the result was also likely to be better. In addition to increasing the range, deadliness, and surprise effect, use of an atlatl decreased the danger of a close range attack. 

Paleolithic hunters use bows and arrows to attack a herd of elk. The next great advance in hunting technology was the bow and arrow. This technology began to replace the atlatl between 12,000 15,000 years ago, near the very end of the Paleolithic period. Both technologies co-existed for thousands of years, however. The gradual shift to the bow probably reflects the change in the game being hunted. 

Compared to the atlatl, the bow and arrow has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include the bow's greater range and accuracy, greater utility in dense forests, and the ability to fire on the move. The disadvantages include wet bow strings during bad weather and the lower impact of the lightweight arrow vs the heavier atlatl dart. 

An atlatl worked better against large, slow-moving game with thick hides that grazed in open areas, while bows were superior against smaller game in deep forests. So, as mammoths, bison, and other large mammals disappeared from the European environment, hunters turned to smaller game, including birds, against which the bow and arrow was more effective.

Painting of a Paleolithic bison at Cova de Altamira. Altamira is a complex of caves in northern Spain that contains both charcoal drawings and polychrome paintings. They were the first of their kind ever discovered and are of astonishing quality. With its wide, staring eyes and and extended tongue, you can almost hear the bison gasp and snort. His three forelegs may be due to the remains of a previous painting or the artist's attempt to represent leg movement. Some of the paintings use bulges in the cave's rock walls to create three-dimensional effects. 

The cave was discovered in 1868 but the paintings were not noticed until 1880, when an amateur archeologist's 8-year-old daughter happened to look up at the cave ceiling. The discovery of the paintings resulted in a bitter controversy that raged for 30 years. Many simply refused to believe that "cavemen" could produce such work. Then, in 1902, similar paintings were found elsewhere and this finally settled the issue.

The paintings appear to have been created over a span of about 10,000 years, between 25,000 and 36,000 years ago. In addition to bison, wild horses and other animals, stick-figure humans are portrayed. To me, the most haunting paintings are the many outlines of human hands. They create a sense of connection to actual individual humans across an immense span of time, a feeling that can't quite be matched by fossil bones or artifacts. 

Small statues called Venus figures were another form of art. Such figures were during the Upper Paleolithic period, probably between 25,000 and 35,000 years ago.  Unlike cave art, they are portable and small enough to be held in the palm of a hand. The figures are carved from bone, stone, or ivory and have been found throughout Europe, Eurasia, and as far away as Siberia. Many portray obese women, often pregnant, with bulging hips and breasts. However, the one on the left is a slender woman and the middle figure may be male.

The purpose of the figures is a matter of much dispute. They have been described as totems for fertility rites, expressions of male views of female beauty, self-portraits carved by Paleolithic women, and portrayals of a Paleolithic goddess. A recent theory suggests that the obesity was a totem against hunger and hardship during ancient climate change. Storage of fat in the body would help survival, particularly for pregnant women. 

In researching and writing this posting, I have been struck at how intelligent and resourceful our distant ancestors were, including those hominins who preceded our own species. What we call "civilization" is only about 10,000 years old. Our predecessors managed to survive and even thrive under extremely difficult circumstances for many hundreds of thousands of years, even before our species came on the scene. It is a humbling thought. 

This completes Part 2 of my Barcelona series. I hope you enjoyed it and, if so, you will leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim