H. heidelbergensis is a critical human species in the Middle Pleistocene (∼130–780 thousand years ago (ka)). We know from several beautifully preserved crania that this species had a large brain, within the lower range of modern human variation, and a less robust face than early fossil humans. We know from their long bones that they were tall, strong people. From their associated archaeology we know they were capable of producing beautiful tools such as the large handaxes found in huge numbers at Boxgrove in Sussex. But there are many unanswered questions: who exactly belongs to the species Homo heidelbergensis, where did they live, how do they fit into the human family tree, and are they a separate species at all?
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