## Overview of the Atapuerca Site Organization The Atapuerca site, formally known as the Sierra de Atapuerca archaeological complex, is not a conventional business or technology organization, but a world-renowned scientific and cultural entity dedicated to the excavation, study, and dissemination of some of the oldest and most significant evidence of human evolution in Europe. Located in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, the site is managed by a consortium of research institutions, including the Atapuerca Research Team and the IPHES (Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution), with ongoing involvement from the University of Burgos and other academic bodies[4]. The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, recognizing its outstanding universal value to humanity[1][2]. ## History and Discovery The archaeological significance of Atapuerca was revealed in the early 20th century during the construction of a railway, which exposed deep limestone caves rich in fossils and artifacts[1][4]. Systematic excavations began in the 1960s, but the site gained international prominence under the leadership of Emiliano Aguirre (1978–1990) and later a team including Eudald Carbonell, José María Bermúdez de Castro, and Juan Luis Arsuaga[1]. Continuous interdisciplinary research has documented human occupation spanning over 1.2 million years, from the Lower Pleistocene to the Holocene, making it one of the most complete records of human evolution in Europe[2][4]. ## Key Achievements Atapuerca is celebrated for several groundbreaking discoveries: - **Oldest European Hominids**: Fossils from Gran Dolina cave represent Homo antecessor, dating back 800,000–950,000 years, the oldest known human species in Western Europe[1][3]. - **Sima de los Huesos**: The "Pit of Bones" contains the world’