The last refugia of the ‘Young Europe’ defenders: Untermassfeld (Thuringia, Germany)

Abstract

We reject in this paper the criticism of hominin presence at the late Early Pleistocene site of Untermassfeld (Germany), a site which preserves lithic industry and bones butchered by hominins, published newly by Roebroeks et al. Here we document the origin and authenticity of the analyzed sample and provide further evidence of the anthropogenic character of lithic material, which unequivocally proves hominin activity at Untermassfeld site 1.07 Myr ago.