The Ata-Puerca Mountains is an ancient landscape Region of Spain, formed by the dissolution of Soluble Rocks such as Lime-Stone, Dolomite, and Gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage system with Sink-holes, Dolines, and Caves. The Region belongs to the Province of Burgos, Castille and Leon and near Ata-Puerca and Ibeas de Juarros.
It contains several Caves, where fossils and stone tools of the earliest known Humans in Western Europe have been found. They have been dated as being up to 1.2 million and 600 thousand years old, respectively. The Caves are known collectively as the "Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca."
Larger Brain cases with a cranial volume of 1100-1400 cm3 overlapping the 1350 cm3 average of modern humans, were found in the caves belonging to that specific Region.
Numerous fossil bones indicate that some of them were giants (2.13m/7ft tall). Recent findings in a pit in Ata-Puerca suggest they were the 1st species of humans who bury its dead. They acquired a pre-linguistic system of communication. No form of art have been uncovered, although red ochre (mineral used to mix red pigment useful as a paint) were found in other Caves of the Region.
The morphology of the outer and middle ear suggest they had an extraordinary auditory sensitivity. They were able to differentiate between many different sounds.
In antiquity, the Ebro was used as the dividing line between Roman (North) and Carthaginian (South) expansions after the 1st Punic War (264-241 BC). When Rome, fearful of Hannibal's growing influence in The Iberian Peninsula, made the City of Saguntum (South of Ebro) a Protectorate of Rome. Hannibal viewed it as a Treaty Violation and as an aggressive action by Rome and used the event as the catalyst to the Second Punic War.
The Ebro is the most important River in Spain in terms of length, 928 km (577mi). The flow decreased notably by about 29 per cent during the 20th century due to the construction of Dams, low rain fall, increasing demands for irrigation due to high sunshine and strong and dry winds, and the evaporation from reservoirs in the river basin. Dams and hydraulic canalization altered the dynamic of the River forever. This situation had a direct impact on the deltaic system at the mouth of the river because its hydrological dynamics are mainly controlled by the River discharge. The decrease in River discharge has meant introduction of the Salt Wedge. Fresh water floats on top of the sea-water in a layer that gradually thins as it moves Seaward. The denser Sea Water moves landward along the bottom of the estuary. As a velocity difference develops between the two layers, shear forces generate internal waves at the interface, mixing the Sea-Water upward with the Fresh-Water. The sediment load was reduced by more than 99 per cent during the last century. The drastic reduction in sediment transport implies a sediment deficit in the Delta, which is causing the erosion of the Coast-Line and lack of sediment replenish. Due to this changes almost entire forested area were cleared for crops or for pulp-wood forest plantation. Numerous plant and animal species have disappeared.
The traditional local Administrative Division (Comarca) named La Bureva is located in the NorthEast of the Province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castilla and Leon.
La Bureba Pass connects the Ebro River Valley leading to the Mediterranean Sea and the duero Valley leading to that River's outlet at the Atlantic Ocean. This conjunction results in a transition area between two Biomes that is a gradual blending of two communities rich in species derived from both ecosystems. The Pass was part of a Roman Cause-Way of the pilgrimage route known as Pilgrim Ways (Camino Frances) to the shrine of the Apostle James the Great in the catedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in North-Western Spain, where tradition said that the remains of the Apostle are buried in there. Many take up this route as a form of Spiritual Path or retreat for their spiritual growth.
The location of the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca between 2 major Water-Sheds and its importance Mountain Pass explain the intensity and continuity of human habitation found there.
The Sites in this Region were found during the construction of Railway cuts through Grand Dolina, Galery, and Elephant, and the cut through the Cave of the "Bone Hill"(Sima de los Huesos).
Because of its importance, in 2000, the Archaeological Site of Ata-Puerca was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites.
The World's largest Landscape made of Soluble Rocks is Australia's Nul-Arbor Plain. Slovenia has the World's highest risk of Sink-Holes, while the Western High-Land Rim in the Eastern United States is at the second-highest risk of Soluble Rocks Sink-Holes.
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