1.4-Million-Year-Old Fossil Reveals Oldest Human Face in Western Europe

Discovery in Spain's Atapuerca cave system identifies a new archaic human group, reshaping early European migration history.

Fossil fragments of a face, nicknamed 'Pink,' were discovered in 2022 in the Sima del Elefante cave in northern Spain and dated to between 1.1 and 1.4 million years old.
The remains belong to Homo affinis erectus, a species closely related to Homo erectus, marking the earliest evidence of humans in Western Europe.
This finding challenges prior assumptions that Homo antecessor was the first human species to inhabit the region, suggesting multiple hominin groups coexisted in Europe during the Early Pleistocene.
Artifacts found alongside the fossils, including stone tools and animal bones with cut marks, indicate basic tool use and meat processing by this population.
The discovery offers insights into early human migration routes, with researchers debating whether populations arrived in Europe via the Strait of Gibraltar or through the Dmanisi region in modern-day Georgia.