Miguelón (considered to be 400,000 years old) is the popular nickname for the most complete skull of an Homo heidelbergensis ever found. More than 5,500 human fossils of this species, which are considered to be the direct ancestor of Homo neanderthalensis, have been found in the Sima de los Huesos ("pit of bones") site in the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain. The excavators suggest that this concentration of bones in the pit may represent the practice of burial by the inhabitants of the cave. A competing theory cites the lack of small bones in the assemblage and suggests that the remains were washed into the pit by natural agents.
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Bischoff, James L.; Donald D. Shampa, Arantza Aramburu, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Eudald Carbonell y J. M. Bermudez de Castro (2002). «The Sima de los Huesos Hominids Date to Beyond U/Th Equilibrium (>350 kyr) and Perhaps to 400–500 kyr: New Radiometric Dates». Journal of Archaeological Science (en inglés) 30 (3): 275-280.
