Orce is the location of the paleo-
archaeological sites known as
Barranco León,
Venta Micena, and
Fuente Nueva 3, near the basin of an ancient lake where fossils have been preserved in sediment. Josep Gibert of the M. Crusafont Institute in
Sabadell has led an excavation team there. He asserts that the sites have
Oldowan-style stone tools dating between 1.5 and 1.8 million years ago. If the early estimates are supported, these would represent the oldest stone tool finds in Europe and of settlers in Europe. Other scholars prefer a more conservative date for the stone tools of 1.2 million years. Together with the
hominid remains at the
Atapuerca Mountains, the tools are evidence that human ancestors settled in western Europe more than one million years (Ma) ago. Recent numerical dating studies using
Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) method applied to fossil teeth and quartz grains have provided ages of ca. 1.2 Ma for Fuente Nueva 3, and ca. 1.4 Ma for Barranco León and Venta Micena. ==See also==