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Permanent Exhibition

We show the jewels of the past
Permanent Exhibition
The Museum of Human Evolution of Burgos was created as a modern and excellence bid for Junta de Castilla y León, Burgos Town Hall and the Atapuerca Research Team to build a new patrimonial infrastructure, appropriate to the findings of Sierra de Atapuerca Site.

The main purpose was to provide Burgos with a modern museum which could hold not only the findings at Atapuerca Sites, but also the scientific disciplines involved and the scientific interpretations and theories drawn form them. Also, this museum tries to offer a holistic vision of human presence on the Earth and give, in the new theories about human evolution, the rightful place for these exceptional sites located in these mountains of Burgos.

But the MEH is not only an exhibition centre, it is also a highly recognized, innovative and appealing centre of scientific divulgation aimed at all audiences. For this reason, it was provided with a spectacular and symbolic architecture. A museography appropriate to the 21st century, the building holding it, the Human Evolution; and with a highly-trained team able to transmit and translate this knowledge.

The MEH was created to become a national and international reference as a museum and centre of scientific divulgation to explain those important issues about our past, present and future as species. Due to this, it is not only a museum of our ancestors, but also a place to reflect on the present of our species Homo sapiens, gifted with abilities which allow us to change the world.
1. One day with Homo antecessor On the lower level (-1) there are original fossils of the oldest human species from Europe. They were discovered and recovered in 1994 in Trinchera de Ferrocarril in Sierra de Atapuerca and they are 850.000 years old.
2. Excavation in the Site of “Gran Dolina” For more than 30 years ago, during the months of June and July,  took place the excavation in the archeological and paleontogical sites of Sierra de Atapuerca, in which the research team works.
3. Face to face with our past The Gallery of  Hominids invites you to  travel through Human Evolution, from the first species to the last species.
4. The biface “Excalibur” This interesting biface of quartzite mineral, the only lytic object found in the Site “Sima de los Huesos” in Sierra de Atapuerco, could be the reference of the oldest symbolic behavior never found.
5. Transparent Architecture: Light and landscape The building construction by Juan Navarro Baldeweg is a new generation museum, imagined as a huge box of light. From the upper lever you can examine the different ecosystems of Sierra de Atapuerca.
6. The Museum glance at the city From the entrance of the museum you can see the most spetatcular view of Burgos, at the same time there is a image of how the city reflects on the front of the glass.
7. From the excavation to the laboratory On the lower level (-1) of the Museum displayed, is the way of fossils found in Sierra de Atapuerca. After the discovery, they are cleaned and analyzed in the laboratory before investigation.
8. Homo heidelbergensis, Miguelón Half a million years ago our ancestor lived in Europe, the “Homo heidelbergensis”. The research team of Atapuerca called him “Miguelón”, in honor of Miguel Indurain (famous spanish cyclist).
9. The pelvis “Elvis” and Miguelón’s skull The orgininal fossils are the treasure of the museum. In the field dedicated of Sima de los Huesos you can see the pelvis “Elvis” and the skull number 5, two of  the 6.000 fossils discovered in Sima de los Huesos. They are preserved very well.
10. Beagle (Darwin’s ship) On the ground floor (0), dedicated to Biology, displays a replica of the ship that took Charles Darwin to the Galapagos Islands, the key to the discovery of the species.