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题目材料：
The human colonization of Europe took place in at least two stages. After half a million years ago, settlement is widespread and well documented in both the northern and the southern regions of Western Europe. Sites in most regions yield hand axes and the skeletal remains of people who appear to have been ancestral to the Neanderthals. But prior to 500,000 years ago, the pattern of settlement is different. Firmly dated sites are extremely rare and currently confined to southern Europe. Although scarce, human skeletal remains must be assigned to other hominid taxa. Hand axes and other bifacial tools are largely-if not wholly-absent.
The earlier phase of occupation, which began at least 800,000 years ago, appears to represent one or more colonization events by relatively small numbers of humans. Both their skeletal morphology and their tools suggest that they may have had little connection with the people who colonized Europe after 500,000 years ago, and they might have failed to establish long-term settlement. The lack of known sites in northern Europe suggests that the initial occupants may have been unable to cope with environments above 41°-42° North (that is, above latitudes already settled by Homo erectus in Asia).
Documenting the early phase of European colonization is difficult because of its limited visibility in the archaeological record. The density of the early European population was probably low, and occupation sites may have been small. Few of the sites are likely to have been preserved, and even these may be particularly difficult to find. Most caves and rock shelters-which protect archaeological remains and are easy to identify as potential sites-erode away in a few hundred thousand years. The majority of the early European sites are buried in sediments deposited by streams, lakes, or springs.
The lack of hand axes presents a special problem for the European sites that antedate half a million years. Such tools are unmistakable products of the human hand, and their presence in later deposits-even in isolated settings-is firm evidence of human occupation. But prior to 500,000 years ago, Europeans were making simple pebble and flake tools that differed little from the original Oldowan industry [the earliest tools in human history]. These artifacts are often difficult to distinguish from naturally fractured rock, and they are frequently recovered from geologic contexts (such as high-energy stream deposits) likely to contain naturally chipped and broken cobbles and pebbles. As a consequence, most of the reported European sites dating to more than 500,000 years ago are highly problematic.
The earlier phase of occupation, which began at least 800,000 years ago, appears to represent one or more colonization events by relatively small numbers of humans. Both their skeletal morphology and their tools suggest that they may have had little connection with the people who colonized Europe after 500,000 years ago, and they might have failed to establish long-term settlement. The lack of known sites in northern Europe suggests that the initial occupants may have been unable to cope with environments above 41°-42° North (that is, above latitudes already settled by Homo erectus in Asia).
Documenting the early phase of European colonization is difficult because of its limited visibility in the archaeological record. The density of the early European population was probably low, and occupation sites may have been small. Few of the sites are likely to have been preserved, and even these may be particularly difficult to find. Most caves and rock shelters-which protect archaeological remains and are easy to identify as potential sites-erode away in a few hundred thousand years. The majority of the early European sites are buried in sediments deposited by streams, lakes, or springs.
The lack of hand axes presents a special problem for the European sites that antedate half a million years. Such tools are unmistakable products of the human hand, and their presence in later deposits-even in isolated settings-is firm evidence of human occupation. But prior to 500,000 years ago, Europeans were making simple pebble and flake tools that differed little from the original Oldowan industry [the earliest tools in human history]. These artifacts are often difficult to distinguish from naturally fractured rock, and they are frequently recovered from geologic contexts (such as high-energy stream deposits) likely to contain naturally chipped and broken cobbles and pebbles. As a consequence, most of the reported European sites dating to more than 500,000 years ago are highly problematic.
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