Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Journal of Human Evolution
The first human fossil from the Ruidera site (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain): A partial parietal and its implications for Middle Pleistocene hominin variability in Southern Europe
Abstract
We report a new Middle Pleistocene paleoanthropological locality located in southern Iberian Peninsula, Ruidera, and describe a newly discovered partial parietal bone (RVH-1). The fossil was chronologically constrained through a combination of uranium-series and optically stimulated luminescence dating methods. In particular, the human fossil-bearing breccia may be tentatively dated to between 224 ± 14 ka and 160 ± 10 ka, although an older age cannot be entirely excluded, given the inherent uncertainty in the gamma dose rate evaluation. When considering these new results together with those previously obtained on Caprinae fossil teeth from that same layer, we can reasonably propose a
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BibTeX
@article{garciamartinez2026first,
title = {{The first human fossil from the Ruidera site (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain): A partial parietal and its implications for Middle Pleistocene hominin variability in Southern Europe}},
author = {D. García-Martínez and C. Buenestado Ruíz and S. Díaz Pérez and M. Bastir and L. Bermejo Albarrán and I. Campaña and O. Cambra-Moo and G. Cifuentes-Alcobendas and M. del Val and M. Duval and M.D. d'Angelo del Campo and B. Fernández Cascón and D. Fidalgo and C. García Campos and F. Gascó-Lluna and A. González-Martín and R. Huguet and M. Modesto-Mata and D. Moreno and P.R. Moya-Maleno and E. Pons-Branchu and M. Richard and A. Rosas and P. Sanz-Henche and T. Torres-Medina and J.-X. Zhao and C.A. Palancar},
journal = {Journal of Human Evolution},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1016/j.jhevol.2026.103866},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05758298v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The first human fossil from the Ruidera site (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain): A partial parietal and its implications for Middle Pleistocene hominin variability in Southern Europe
AU - D. García-Martínez
AU - C. Buenestado Ruíz
AU - S. Díaz Pérez
AU - M. Bastir
AU - L. Bermejo Albarrán
AU - I. Campaña
AU - O. Cambra-Moo
AU - G. Cifuentes-Alcobendas
AU - M. del Val
AU - M. Duval
AU - M.D. d'Angelo del Campo
AU - B. Fernández Cascón
AU - D. Fidalgo
AU - C. García Campos
AU - F. Gascó-Lluna
AU - A. González-Martín
AU - R. Huguet
AU - M. Modesto-Mata
AU - D. Moreno
AU - P.R. Moya-Maleno
AU - E. Pons-Branchu
AU - M. Richard
AU - A. Rosas
AU - P. Sanz-Henche
AU - T. Torres-Medina
AU - J.-X. Zhao
AU - C.A. Palancar
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/30
JO - Journal of Human Evolution
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2026.103866
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05758298v1
AB - We report a new Middle Pleistocene paleoanthropological locality located in southern Iberian Peninsula, Ruidera, and describe a newly discovered partial parietal bone (RVH-1). The fossil was chronologically constrained through a combination of uranium-series and optically stimulated luminescence dating methods. In particular, the human fossil-bearing breccia may be tentatively dated to between 224 ± 14 ka and 160 ± 10 ka, although an older age cannot be entirely excluded, given the inherent uncertainty in the gamma dose rate evaluation. When considering these new results together with those previously obtained on Caprinae fossil teeth from that same layer, we can reasonably propose a
SN - 0047-2484
SN - 1095-8606
ER -