Miguelón is the popular nickname for a human skull, classified as either late '' Homo heidelbergensis'' or as early '' Homo neanderthalensis''. It has been estimated to date to 430,000 years ago. It is one of more than 5,500 fossils belonging to early human populations which have been found in the Sima de los Huesos ("pit of bones") site in the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain. Atapuerca skull-5

The excavators suggest that this concentration of bones in the pit may represent the practice of

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

by the inhabitants of the cave. A competing theory cites the lack of small bones in the assemblage and suggests that the remains were washed into the pit by natural agents. Evidence in the form of genetic analysis suggests that the Sima de los Huesos hominins were ancestral to later Neanderthals. Subsequently, there is debate about whether to include them within '' Homo heidelbergensis'' or whether they represent early members of '' Homo neanderthalensis''. Miguelón, around thirty years old, had suffered 13 impacts in the head and died of sepsis resulting from broken teeth. The frontal squama has a spherical depression on the left side indicative of a blow to the head by a club or rounded flint implement wielded by a right-handed individual. In his upper left jaw there is an important bone alteration, with evidence of alveolar infection. According to Arsuaga, a tooth had been broken in life by a strong blow, so that the flesh had been exposed and led to an infectious process that continued until nearly the

orbital bone In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of ...

. The cranial capacity is around 1100cc. The nickname ''Miguelón'' was derived from

Miguel Indurain --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

, a retired Spanish

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

that won the Tour and

Giro Giro or GIRO may refer to: Banking and Investments * Giro (banking), a direct payment from one bank account to another instigated by the payer * Girobank, a state owned and later privatised financial institution in the UK * GiroBank, a Danish ba ...

in 1992, the year in which this skull was discovered.

References

External links

Human Fossils - The pit of bones
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Miguelon Neanderthal fossils Anthropology Burials in the Province of Burgos Prehistoric burials in Spain Human remains (archaeological) Homo heidelbergensis fossils

See also

References

External links