13-03-2025
Photos reveal face of million-year-old human unearthed at ancient site
Archeologists have unearthed what could be the oldest human face in Western Europe. Dated at between 1.1 and 1.4 million years, the bone fragments have some resemblance to extinct Homo erectus and was found close to animal bones with cut marks from stone tools.
This week, Professor Rosa Huguet from Rovira i Virgili University recalled the moment her team first discovered the fossilised bones. She described the feeling as one of 'great excitement' paired with the responsibility of needing to rigorously research the find.
'Where it was recovered was very ancient. Later, when we realised it was a face, and during the paleoanthropological study, we saw that the discovery was not only important but also groundbreaking for the study of human evolution,' she told Yahoo News.
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The fragments, which have been collectively named ATE7-1, were found at the Sima del Elefante dig site in Northern Spain in 2022. They were once part of the ancient human's maxilla and zygomatic bones that form the upper part of the jaw, roof of the mouth, and areas of the eye socket and nose. The findings were published in the prestigious journal Nature overnight.
Humans are thought to have settled in Eurasia about 1.8 million years ago and this is evidenced by the ancient stone tools from the period. Bone fragment fossils are much less common.
In an email to Yahoo, Huguet described the world in which ATE7-1 likely lived in. 'Paleoecological data suggests an open, humid forest landscape with trees, shrubs, and watercourses in the vicinity of the site,' she said.
Looking at the adult face bones, it's impossible to tell anything about the person's appearance, sex, or even which species it is. It's been provisionally named Homo aff. erectus, indicating an affinity to Homo erectus, pending further evidence.
What tells us more about the person and how they lived are the other objects found nearby.
'We have recovered a small collection of tools, including cobbles and flakes made of quartz and flint, both local materials, suggesting that the lithic resources were sourced from areas near the site,' Huguet said.
'Use-wear analysis of these tools indicates they were likely used for processing animal meat. Additionally, we recovered a rib from a deer-like animal at the site, which shows clear cut marks, providing evidence that these hominins could obtain meat resources for their survival.'
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Huguet hopes to find more fossils at Sima del Elefante that will allow her team to better understand this new species that lived in Europe over a million years ago.
'It will certainly be challenging, but not impossible. And if [Sima del Elefante] has shown us anything, it's that anything can happen, and everything is possible,' she said.
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