BACKGROUND:
The Atapuerca Foundation is a non-profit organization based in the Burgos town of Ibeas de Juarros, 3 km from the Atapuerca Mountains.
The Foundation was established to support a scientific research project on human evolution: the Atapuerca Project. The Atapuerca Mountains sites began to gain special scientific and social relevance after the discovery of the remains in the Sima de los Huesos in 1992, and the discovery, two years later, of human remains (more than 800,000 years old) that defined a new species known as Homo antecessor. The Atapuerca Research Team (EIA) received the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research in 1997, and in 2000, UNESCO declared the Atapuerca Mountains sites a World Heritage Site. To promote and contribute to this recognition, the Atapuerca Foundation was established on July 26, 1999, at the initiative of the three project co-directors: Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro, and Eudald Carbonell, with the broad objective of supporting and disseminating the Atapuerca Project. On July 7, 2009, Her Majesty Queen Sofia inaugurated the Atapuerca Foundation Headquarters in Ibeas de Juarros (Burgos).
The objectives of the Atapuerca Foundation include, among others, supporting the Atapuerca Research Team (EIA) by granting predoctoral and postdoctoral research grants and managing the annual excavation campaign at the sites in the Atapuerca Mountains. Its goal is also to disseminate research and findings on human evolution (especially those related to the Atapuerca Mountains sites) through the design and development of scientific outreach programs. Another cornerstone of the Foundation's mission is to contribute to improving the territorial environment surrounding the Atapuerca Mountains sites.
BACKGROUND AND APPROACH:
Internationally recognized and linked to the UNESCO declaration on the outstanding universal value of the site, the Foundation has led numerous scientific and educational projects. Its work is based on rigorous research and accessible dissemination, bringing prehistoric discoveries closer to society through activities, exhibitions and specialized publications.