Heidelberg man (Homo heidelbergensis) is a fossil human species. Heidelberg man is a subspecies of Homo erectus, along with such species as Sinanthropus, Pithecanthropus, etc.
Heidelberg man lived in Europe 700-345 thousand years ago (Pleistocene). By that time, Homo erectus had inhabited rather vast territories. Initially, Homo erectus appeared in Africa, but by the time of Heidelberg man it had settled in the east and Europe. Apparently, this type of human ancestors descended from the human predecessor (Homo antecessor), who lived 1.2 million-800 thousand years ago. The human predecessor was the common ancestor of the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon (direct human ancestor). The Heidelberg man, as a descendant of the human predecessor, in turn, became the predecessor not of the Cro-Magnon man's ancestor, but the Neanderthal man, who later either died out or assimilated with the ancestors of people.
The Heidelberg man was first found in 1907 near the city of Heidelberg, Germany. In addition to the remains of an ancient man, tools of labor and hunting were found. Stone chops and flakes were found nearby, as well as wooden spears. The finding of copies suggests that even at that time people learned how to create hunting tools. It is assumed that with the help of such copies, Heidelberg man could hunt even large animals, in particular, elephants. During the excavations, no traces of bonfires were found, which may indicate that this type of person did not know how to make a fire and ate raw meat. According to numerous researchers, only the descendants of this species, the Neanderthals, learned to use fire, as well as to build primitive dwellings.
Subsequently, the remains of a Heidelberg man were found in Steinheim am Moore, Germany (Steinheim man), France (Totawel man), Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain, as well as in African countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Morocco. The oldest find of this species of Homo erectus is the "skull from Bodo" in Ethiopia, which dates back 600 thousand years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis:
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