New dates from Sima del Elefante provide key insights into the formation of the site
IPHES-CERCA has participated in a study presenting the first dates obtained by combining Electron Spin Resonance and Uranium-Series dating techniques on fossil teeth from level TE19
The results refine the chronological framework of this site in the Sierra de Atapuerca and provide new evidence on the processes that shaped its formation
An international team led by Davinia Moreno, a researcher at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has obtained the first dates from fossil teeth recovered from level TE19 at the Sima del Elefante site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), using Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Uranium-Series (US) dating techniques. The results, published in the journal L’Anthropologie, refine the chronology of this part of the stratigraphic sequence and provide new information on the processes involved in the formation of the site.
IPHES-CERCA participated in the study through researchers Rosa Huguet and Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez, coordinators of the excavations at the Sima del Elefante site, together with Palmira Saladié, Josep Vallverdú and Clara Mielgo. The study also involved researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid, the UCM-ISCIII Joint Centre for Human Evolution and Behaviour, the University of Burgos, and other national and international institutions associated with the Atapuerca Project.
For the first time, the study incorporates direct dating of fossil teeth using a combination of US-ESR techniques, a method particularly well suited to establishing the age of Pleistocene dental remains. The aim was to improve the chronological framework of level TE19, which until now had been based mainly on luminescence dating, placing its formation between approximately 237,000 and 266,000 years ago.
Overall, the new ages are consistent with those obtained previously, reinforcing the robustness of the chronological framework established for the upper part of Sima del Elefante. However, some discrepancies between specific samples highlight the stratigraphic and spatial complexity of level TE19, where different areas of the sedimentary infill may record distinct sedimentation episodes.
Beyond providing new dates, the study offers a better understanding of how this archaeological level was formed. Combining different dating techniques makes it possible to compare independent results and identify geological processes that help researchers correctly interpret the context in which fossils and archaeological evidence were preserved.
Reliable chronologies are essential for interpreting the evolution of archaeological sites and placing archaeological and palaeontological finds within their temporal context. In this respect, each new date contributes to a more precise reconstruction of the history of human occupation in the Sierra de Atapuerca and provides a more robust basis for future research.
The results reinforce the importance of combining different geochronological techniques to improve our understanding of Pleistocene sites and highlight the value of these methodologies for reconstructing both the chronology and the formation processes of archaeological deposits.
Reference
Davinia Moreno, Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez, Christophe Falguères, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Mathieu Duval, Olivier Tombret, François Trompier, Ana Isabel Ortega Martínez, Raquel Pérez-Martínez, Antonio Rosas, Palmira Saladié, Clara Mielgo, Josep Vallverdú, Rosa Huguet (2026). Sima del Elefante (Atapuerca, Spain): New late Middle Pleistocene dates for the uppermost stratigraphic unit of a key site in European human evolution, L'Anthropologie, Volume 130, Issue 3, 103505, ISSN 0003-5521, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2026.103505.
