In a remarkable discovery, archaeologists have unearthed a fossil of a partial human ancestor’s face in northern Spain, marking it as the oldest known in western Europe. This significant find, consisting of the left cheekbone and upper jaw, dates back between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years, as detailed in a study published in the journal Nature.
According to paleontologist Eric Delson from the American Museum of Natural History, although not directly involved in this research, the fossil is a major breakthrough because it presents the first significant remains over a million years old in this part of Europe.
While older fossils of early human ancestors have previously been located in Georgia, near the intersection of eastern Europe and Asia, and these are estimated to be around 1.8 million years old, the discovery in Spain highlights a new chapter in human ancestry. Rick Potts from the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program emphasized that this is the first clear evidence suggesting that human ancestors ventured into Europe during that period. However, Potts, who was not part of the study, pointed out the lack of evidence indicating that these early inhabitants managed to thrive in the region, noting that “they may get to a new location and then die out.”
Study co-author Rosa Huguet from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain, mentioned that the features of the partial skull share many similarities with Homo erectus, although some anatomical differences are noticeable. Homo erectus emerged roughly 2 million years ago and gradually migrated from Africa to parts of Asia and Europe, with the last individuals vanishing around 100,000 years ago, according to Potts.
Identifying which early human group a fossil belongs to can be challenging, especially when dealing with single fragments as opposed to multiple bones that exhibit a diverse range of features. This is a notion echoed by Christoph Zollikofer, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Zurich, who was also uninvolved in the research.
The Atapuerca Mountains site in Spain, where these new fossils were discovered, has previously revealed other significant insights into ancient human history. Past excavations in the region have unearthed additional fossils belonging to Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens, contributing further to our understanding of human evolutionary history.
