Figure 1.-- 'Homo heidelbergensis' appears to have evolved out of Homo ergaster in Africa and then migrated into Europe. Heidelbergensis appears to have not only used, but actually controlled fire. They appear to have been the first hominin to have fasioned basic clothing. The supporting evidence is slim, but how could any hominin have survived in Europe without some form of clothing during the winter? While not as well known as other archaic human species, Heidelbergensis is of some importance because it is widely seen as the last common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans Homo sapiens.

Homo heidelbergensis is a relatively short lived archaic human. Despite its name, it evolved in Africa. Fossil evidence suggests that H. heidelbergensis evolved from Homo ergaster. Some researchers believe that there was a population bottleneck (around 0.9/0.8 million BP). Some believed that Ergaster is a sub species of Erectus. Heidelbergensis migrated into Europe where the first fossil was found near near Heidelberg, Germany. Its presence in Asia, at least western Asia, is suspected, but not yet confirmed. As archaic humans like Heidelbergensis migrated north into colder climates, their bodies became more compact. This educed overall skin surface area and thus heat loss. This made them better able to conserve heat than a taller more lean body like Erectus which exposed a greater surface area proportionally to body mass. This was ideal in the hot, drier environment of East Africa. Heidelbergensis was a robust species with large brow ridges, and importantly with a brain size about 1,100–1,400 cc. While not as well known as other archaic human species, it is of some importance because it was the widely seen as the last common ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans Homo sapiens. The rise of modern humans occurred in Africa. The rise of Neanderthals occurred in western Eurasia, meaning that modern Africans unlike Europeans have no Neanderthal DNA. The rise of Denisovans appears to have occurred in eastern Eurasia. The break with these successor species seems to have occurred about 0.35 million years BP after the migration out of Africa. Heidelbergensis was in many ways a ground breaker. We see the earliest definite control of fire, not just use, but control. And we note the use of wooden spears. They were the first of the archaic humans to regularly hunt big game. And another imprint milestone, Heidelbergensis was the first of the archaic species to build any kind of primitive shelters. They fashioned primitive dwellings out of branches and rocks This leads to a difficult question to answer. Heildelberg is in southern Germany but north and west of the Alps and at the beginning of the Rhine Plain. But it is far enough north that it is hard to understand how humans, no matter how robust, could survive during the winter without some kind of protective clothing, especially because they lived during the last Global Maximum. There is a debate as to when clothing was invented. Of course biodegradable materiel like clothing does not survive hundreds of thousands of years. Anthropologists have long insisted that clothing did not appear until (170,000 to 80,000 BP). But some modern estimates are much earlier (as early as 500,000 BP). The later estimates are within the time range of Heidelbergensis. This would not have been when Heidelbergensis, could have occrred during the later phaes of the species.

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Created: 2:47 AM 10/20/2026
Last updated: 2:47 AM 10/20/2026