(435,000 BP± 85,000) and Visogliano in Italy (350,000–500,000). It is somewhat older than Ceprano (353,000 BP± 4,000), also in Italy. As for the surrounding region, there are only two other Middle Pleistocene specimens, Petralona and Apidima, both in Greece, but both are notably younger. Except for the Visogliano remains, which are identified as Homo erectus, all other human remains are currently identified as Homo heidelbergensis. The Heidelberg man is considered a chronospecies of Neanderthals, at least in the European context. However, the contemporary Middle Pleistocene hominin population in Western Europe shows unequal presence of Neanderthal traits. While in the Sima de los Huesos Neanderthal morphology is more pronounced, in the eastern Arago and Ceprano localities not so much. Robin Dennell suggested that Neanderthals were evolving in Western Europe during glacial isolation periods, but in warmer periods more primitive species which remained in the Balkans, and south generally, would repopulate the west, reasserting their traits. For example, Mala Balanica's mandible shows absolutely no Neanderthal morphological traits. Hence the discrepancy between the common traits among the contemporary populations as Homo heidelbergensis constantly "diluted" Homo neanderthalensis in its beginnings. The Balkans remained connected to Southwest Asia even during the ice age and served as a transit route. Much later, fully evolved Neanderthals would migrate to the east. Velika Balanica Archaeology Velika Balanica is a relatively large cave, covering , of which is surveyed. The entrance is , while the entry hall is . Originally, was accessible, with several buried corridors which lead into further, later uncovered, halls. A deep stratigraphic sequence is divided in 5 layers (1 to 5), which are divided into further sub-levels (2a, 2a2, 2a3, 2b, 2c, 3a-3c, 4a-4d, 5a-5d). Level 1 is sterile. Typical Mousterian artefacts are found throughout the 2nd layer, while the Charentian industries were discovered in the entire layer 3. Layers 4 and 5 are still being surveyed. Lithic assemblages from the Charentian period in both caves, and remains of microfauna, suggest that layer 3a corresponds to the late Middle Pleistocene, probably the interglacial Marine Isotope Stages 9 or 7. Taking into the account the Proto-Charentian character of industry, and parallels with Karain Cave in Turkey, this would put the layer 3a at 330,000-300,000 BP. Fauna Until 2014, over 10,000 animal bone remains were discovered, but due to the extreme fragmentation, over 86% is non-identifiable being shorter than . Among herbivores, the most represented are the