Archaeologists uncover the oldest known partial face fossil of a human ancestor in western Europe

Archaeological excavation work at the Sima del Elefante website in Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain, the place a fossil from a hominin between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years previous was discovered. (AP)

WASHINGTON: A fossil of a partial face from a human ancestor is the oldest in western Europe, archaeologists reported Wednesday.
The incomplete cranium – a part of the left cheek bone and higher jaw – was discovered in northern Spain in 2022. The fossil is between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years previous, in line with analysis printed in the journal Nature.
“The fossil is exciting,” stated Eric Delson, a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not concerned in the research. “It’s the first time we have significant remains older than 1 million years old in western Europe.”
A set of older fossils from early human ancestors was beforehand discovered in Georgia, close to the crossroads of japanese Europe and Asia. Those are estimated to be 1.8 million years previous.
The Spanish fossil is the first proof that clearly exhibits human ancestors “were taking excursions into Europe” at the moment, stated Rick Potts, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program.
But there may be not but proof that the earliest arrivals endured there lengthy, he stated. “They may get to a new location and then die out,” stated Potts, who had no position in the research.
The partial cranium bears many similarities to Homo erectus, however there are additionally some anatomical variations, stated research co-author Rosa Huguet, an archaeologist at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Tarragona, Spain.
Homo erectus arose round 2 million years in the past and moved from Africa to areas of Asia and Europe, with the final people dying out round 100,000 years in the past, stated Potts.
It could be difficult to determine which group of early people a fossil discover belongs to if there’s solely a single fragment versus many bones that present a vary of options, stated University of Zurich paleoanthropologist Christoph Zollikofer, who was not concerned in the research.
The identical cave complicated in Spain’s Atapuerca Mountains the place the new fossil was discovered additionally beforehand yielded different important clues to the historic human previous. Researchers working in the area have additionally discovered newer fossils from Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens.