On the origin of the European Acheulian

•The origin of the Acheulian is discussed and a new hypothesis is proposed.•We analyse the Mode 1-2 transition at the key circum-Mediterranean sites.•We explain the technological evolution of the European Mode 1 across Europe.•We explain how the spread of the Acheulian across Europe occurred.•A technological evolution occurred by the contact and competition of hominin groups.

The Mode 1 to Mode 2 transition in Europe has become a key research debate on early hominins. In this paper, the available data are used to propose a new interpretation of the origin of the Acheulian by analysing the transition through the lithic industry at key circum-Mediterranean sites with Early-Middle Pleistocene chronology: Vallparadís, Gran Dolina TD6, Barranc de la Boella, and Caune de l'Arago 'P' levels. Regarding these lithic records, we propose here the hypothesis based on an evolution of new technological behaviours in Europe before 0.5 Myr carried out from autochthonous populations with Mode 1 industries, combined with external adaptive and technological influences. We interpret the chronology and lithic assemblages of these sites within the transition process towards Acheulian, in which structural continuity of Mode 1 is complemented with the gradual appearance of some foreign innovations (bifacial technology). This technological transition is envisaged as a historical process: the outcome of the cultural evolution resulted from contacts and exchanges between hominin groups from western Eurasia with different social and technological adaptations, in contact and competition with each other. This historical process would explain the time lag between Africa, Levant, and Europe in the spread of the Acheulian, as well as a technological evolution of the European Mode 1 and the gradual expansion of the Acheulian across Europe.