Abbevillian - Abbevillian Tool Users

Abbevillian Tool Users

Abbevillian tool users were the first Hominin inhabitants of Europe. They are generally conceded to be the immediate ancestors of Neanderthal Man, whose classification, though not entirely undisputed, is most often given as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis; that is, Neanderthal Man is a subspecies of modern man. Our own subspecies has for many generations been fixed at Homo sapiens sapiens.

Beyond these basic concessions, there is a dispute of a purely semantic nature. Three points of view are emergent:

• The first European men are late variants of Homo erectus; that is, not modern at all. And yet, those who hold and present this view make such concessions as:

"While the type is identified as Homo erectus, there are modifications that suggest it is filling a gap between Homo erectus and the Neanderthal."

• The first European men are a set of distinct species intermediary between Homo erectus and Neanderthal Man, such as Homo heidelbergensis (Heidelberg Man) and Homo antecessor (Atapuerca man).
• The first European men are early varieties of modern man, Homo sapiens:

"In Europe there are, as yet, no hominid fossils classified definitely as typical Homo erectus remains; all of the more compete skulls have been classified by most authorities as forms of archaic Homo sapiens."