600,000 Years Ago. Homo Heidelbergensis, The Forgotten Giant | Prehistoric Documentary

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About 600,000 years ago, a human form with a large body and a robust skeleton was living in middle pleaene Europe. They were homohylebergensis. Hundreds of thousands of years later, a fossil jaw found deep beneath the sand [music] at Mau, Germany, led researchers to give these ancient humans a new name. But physical strength [music] did not

guarantee survival. Food could run out, birds [music] could move, and the environment could change. What remains in fossils, [music] stone tools, and habitation sites shows that Homohidal Burgensis had to find many other ways to continue surviving. [music] So what really helped them live in that world? The answer [music] begins with their own

bodies.

Across the open landscapes [music] of Europe, Homohidlebergensus had a tall, robust body. [music] But what stood out was not just their size. Their limb bones [music] were thick and strong. Their joints were large, and their powerful torsos indicate a body that regularly endured stress from walking, carrying heavy loads, and processing [music] food sources that required

considerable strength. Their heads had a distinctly different appearance. The skull was longer [music] and lower with a large bony ridge running across the face above the eyes. The face was broad and the jaw was strong. Brain volume [music] in fossils commonly classified as homohidal burgensis was also larger than in most homoforms that