Arago

▪ anthropological and archaeological site, France

      site of paleoanthropological excavation near the town of Tautavel in the French Pyrenees where more than 50 specimens of archaic Homo were recovered from 1964 to 1974. On the basis of the age of animal (particularly rodent) fossils found with them, the remains have been dated to 300,000 to 200,000 years ago.

      The human remains include two robust and well-preserved jaws that are quite different in size, probably because males were larger than females. The 1971 discovery of a partial skull with a complete face is one of the best-known European fossil hominins (members of the human lineage). The face juts forward and has heavy browridges, a slanting forehead, and a braincase somewhat smaller than that of the average modern human. The species to which this individual belongs is disputed because its morphology is intermediate between Homo erectus and more-recent Homo species such as the Neanderthal (H. neanderthalensis) and modern man ( Homo sapiens). It is most often classified as H. heidelbergensis (Homo heidelbergensis).

      Stone Age tools are also found at the site, the oldest of which are those of the Tayacian industry. These implements consist of pebble choppers, small scrapers, points, and denticulates (flakes or blades retouched to produce a ragged edge) that lack the more-advanced prepared-core technology of the Mousterian industry. Hand axes typical of the Acheulean (Acheulean industry) tradition have also been found.

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