“Research in Atapuerca takes Spain to the international platform in the study of human evolution” [Prensa/Actualidad/Ciencia e Innovación]

The Minister of Science and Innovation, Diana Morant, visited the sites of the Sierra de Atapuerca and highlighted that the research conducted in this enclave, declared a World Heritage Site, raises Spain to the international platform in the study of human evolution.

During her visit, the minister gained access to fossils at Sima del Elefante, where the fossil remains of the first European face, which may be around 1.4 million years old, have recently been discovered.

Morant appreciated the work of the research team working on the sites and highlighted the importance of this discovery, which provides new clues to humanity’s past and places our country at the center of world science in its field.

In this sense, the Minister conveyed the commitment of the Ministry of Science and Innovation to the research carried out in Atapuerca and announced that the State Research Agency (AEI), by inviting Generation Knowledge 2021, has just awarded €800,000 to three people. Research projects at Atapuerca.

The Minister was accompanied during her visit by the sub-delegate of the Government in Burgos, Pedro Luis de la Fuente; General Director of the Atapuerca Foundation, Eva Manrique Martinez; Co-Directors of the Atapuerca Project, Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Ewald Carbonell; CENIEH Director, Maria Martinon Torres; Regional Delegate of the Board of Directors; Roberto Sanz and Director of Cultural Policy for the Board of Directors, Inmaculada Martinez.

Visit the Museum of Human Evolution

Secretary Diana Morant also visited Museum of Human Evolution (MEH)which celebrated its twelfth birthday yesterday. Together with the mayor of Burgos, Daniel de la Rosa, the scientific director of the Ministry of Health, Juan Luis Arsuaga, and the coordinator of the Ministry of Health, Aurora Martin, he stopped at the new lumbar vertebrae opposite the Elvis basin, located in the permanent exhibition MEH.

Prior to the visit, Morant stated that science is meaningless if knowledge is not imparted to citizens, citing the Ministry of Health as an example of spreading science and bringing knowledge to society.