Atapuerca.

It sounds Spanish and, indeed, it is. Turns out it´s a place, a lost little hamlet down Burgos way. It sounds rustic; those overtones of tying up pigs. Atar, to tie up. Puerco, pig. And rustic it is. (Apologies to etymologists who know what the name actually means).

So, typically Spanish then?

Well, yes and no. Especially no.

What the hell am I on about you might – and indeed will – ask?

I´m on about broken moulds, annihilated assumptions, because the Atapuerca phenomenon (there is no other word for it) is simply and untypically Spanish. It´s so untypical it´s hard to do it justice in this lil ´ol post but perhaps by using up my stock of superlatives for the month I might make it.

Atapuerca is Spain at its most primitive and most innovative, a glorious treasure of, and moving tribute to, the humanity that has inhabited this piel de toro, bull skin peninsula since time immemorial.

I´d wanted to see it for so long.

I´d read books on it.

But nothing compared with being there this summer.

Our visit to Atapuerca, an archaeological site from which have been unearthed the earliest human remains in Europe, is almost a religious experience. Busloads of German Catholics sped past us on their way south to Madrid to acclaim the Pope, (the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost) but we were pilgrims in search of a different, humanist trinity comprising the Museum of Human Evolution, the Archaeological Park and the excavation at Atapuerca.

Have you ever looked into the eye-sockets of a million year old skull named Miguelón (named after champion cyclist, Miguel Indurain) in a darkened room in a brightly lit glass case?

Have you sat hushed with thirty people in the reproduction of a wooden meeting “hut” while your guide spends fifteen minutes demonstrating the difficulty of creating fire? And gasped when it bursts to life, hot for cooking?

Have you donned a hard hat and climbed up rickety stairs set in an ancient pass to reach the caves being excavated, still filled with earth and silt and the remains of the paleolithic ancestors of your Spanish daughter?

If not, maybe you should, because Atapuerca is an incredible Spanish success story, a story of organization, academic brilliance, sustained research and utterly modern know-how.

The site itself, around 12 miles from Burgos, was discovered when a British coal company set up an export railroad through the ancient natural pass. They abandoned the enterprise as unprofitable but soon the fantastic archaeological wealth of the site began to emerge. Finally in the late 70s a priest named Emiliano Aguirre began to study the remains, and the rest, as they say, is paleontology.

Now a World Heritage Site, this trinity of wonder for the twenty-first century is available to you for €14. For that you have access to the Museum in Burgos (four storeys, including one on Darwin and the Beagle and an incredible bookstore) the Archaeological Park (shoot arrows, flintknapp stone, learn about Homo Antecessor and the unfortunate Neanderthal) and the Excavation Site, including bussing to and fro and expert guides.

And not a pig in sight, not even as jamón.

It´s simply awesome, state of the art, perfection right down to the English translations. Congratulations, Spain, onwards and upwards.

See what you can do when you try?

Amazing Atapuerca