By Museum of Human Evolution
Museum of Human Evolution (MEH)
Technology
The first tools we show you how humans always strive to improve.
Spear-thrower with bison decoration.
Sample of portable art on reindeer antler. Realistic representation of a bison in a minimal space: the piece measures 10 cm.
Elephant tibia with engraved lines.
Elephant tibia fragment with groups of parallel incisions.
Lower Palaeolithic.
Bronze axe from the Mirador site.
Axe made of cast bronze.
Bronze Age.
Carved arrowhead.
Lithic technology characteristic of Homo neanderthalensis.
Middle-Upper Palaeolithic.
Marble bracelet.
Fragment of bracelet made of grey marble.
Neolitic.
Bone flute.
Flute made of a swan ulna decorated with engraved lines.
Upper Palaeolithic. Aurignacian.
Neanderthal necklace.
Decorative object composed of fox teeth and hyoid bones. It is part of a moment of conviviality between Neanderthals and Sapiens.
Middle-Upper Palaeolithic.
Symbolism
The importance of symbolism in human evolution.
Venus.
It is made of mammoth ivory. Sculpture en ronde-bosse representing the head and neck of a woman.
Upper Palaeolithic. Gravettian.
Vessel.
Technical name: Shard of beaker pottery and complete reproduction of it. Fragment of a bell beaker of Maritime type. Typical ceramic of funeral rites.
Chalcolithic.
Neanderthals
Coexisted with our species.
Homo neanderthalensis is a species that coexisted with ours and was one of the last to become extinct.
Reconstruction of bust of Homo neanderthalensis. This sculpture is based on one of the most complete skulls of Homo neanderthalensis, the one from the cave of La Ferrassie, in the French Dordogne.
Author: Fabio Fogliazza.
Diorama of a Neanderthal camp.
Diorama showing the life of Mediterranean Neanderthals.
Middle Palaeolithic.
Diorama of a sapiens camp.
Diorama showing what the everyday life of a group of hunter-gatherers belonging to our species (Homo sapiens) was like.
Upper Palaeolithic.
Scenography of washing in the river.
In Atapuerca, the sediment is taken to be washed using sieves of different thicknesses, which allow the recovery of remains that are sometimes imperceptible to the human eye.
Fire
The importance of fire in human evolution.
Elliptical zinc structure with little dots of red light that simulate a fire ember (interior view).
Elliptical zinc structure with little dots of red light that simulate a fire ember (external view).