Mauer 1 (Heidelberg Man)

Mauer 1 (Heidelberg Man)
  • Johanna Kontny u. a.: Reisetagebuch eines Fossils. In: Günther A. Wagner u. a., S. 48. – Durch intensives Kauen wird der Zahnschmelz allmählich abgetragen und das Dentin freigelegt; daher kann das Ausmaß dieses Abriebs als Anhaltspunkt für die Abschätzung des Lebensalters genutzt werden.

The Mauer 1 mandible is the oldest fossilized specimen of the genus Homo ever to be discovered in Germany. It was found in 1907 in a sand mine in the community Mauer, around ten kilometers south-east of Heidelberg. The Mauer 1 mandible is the type specimen of the species Homo heidelbergensis. European researchers have classified the find as Homo erectus heidelbergensis, which is to be regarded as a subspecies of Homo erectus. In 2010 the mandible's age was for the first time exactly determined as to be 609,000 ± 40,000 years. Previously specialist literature had referred to an age of either 600,000 or 500,000 years on the basis of less accurate dating methods.

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  • Günther A. Wagner u. a.: Radiometric dating of the type-site for Homo heidelbergensis at Mauer, Germany. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Band 107, Nr. 46, 2010, S. 19726–19730 doi:10.1073/pnas.1012722107. Can be read here.
  • Otto Schoetensack: Der Unterkiefer des Homo Heidelbergensis aus den Sanden von Mauer bei Heidelberg. Ein Beitrag zur Paläontologie des Menschen. Leipzig, 1908, Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann