Barranco León, Prehistoric archaeological site in Orce, Andalusia, Spain.
Barranco León is an excavation site in a semi-arid region containing numerous fossil remains and stone tools from the early Stone Age. The ground reveals multiple layers with thousands of artifacts that show how people lived in this place millions of years ago.
Scientific digs uncovered a human baby tooth dated between 1.2 and 1.4 million years ago, marking the earliest human presence in Western Europe. This discovery changed how researchers understand when people first arrived in this part of the world.
The tools found here reflect different working methods that early people used for daily tasks. Flint and limestone were preferred materials, shaped for hunting and processing food along what was once a lake.
The dig site itself is protected and not open to regular visitors, but the main findings are displayed at the local museum in Orce town. The museum is close by and shows a clear collection of the artifacts and what they tell us about early human life.
In the geological layers alongside the stone tools lie bones of extinct hippopotamuses, horses, and deer that paint a full picture of animal life at that time. This mix of tools and animal bones shows that people lived by a former lake shore where water and food were abundant.
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