Mauer 1

The Mauer 1 mandible is the oldest fossilized specimen of the genus Homo ever to be discovered in Germany. It was found in 1907 in a sand mine in the community Mauer, around ten kilometers south-east of Heidelberg. The Mauer 1 mandible is the type specimen of the species Homo heidelbergensis. European researchers have classified the find as Homo erectus heidelbergensis, which is to be regarded as a subspecies of Homo erectus. In 2010 the mandible's age was for the first time exactly determined as to be 609,000 ± 40,000 years. Previously specialist literature had referred to an age of either 600,000 or 500,000 years on the basis of less accurate dating methods.