Spain: Scientists uncover oldest face in Western Europe

Scientists in Spain have excavated fossilized facial bones that may be from a previously unknown species of the human family.

The bones are roughly 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old, according to research published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The discovery makes the adult — nicknamed "Pink"  — the oldest face in Western Europe, archeologists said.

The fossil was nicknamed as a reference to English rock band Pink Floyd.

Specimen discovered in 2022

The upper jawbone and partial cheekbone were found in 2022 at the Atapuerca archaeological site in Spain's northern region.

A team of the country's scientists have since been at work to find out more about the human ancestor.

The study  "introduces a new actor in the history of human evolution in Europe," said Rosa Huguet, lead researcher at Spain's University of Rovira i Virgili, during a conference.

The bones were dug at the Sima del Elefante cave site, roughly 250 metres away from where the fossils of Western Europe's previous oldest human — Homo antecessor — were found 20 years ago.

What do scientists know?

The anatomy of Pink's face is more primitive than that of Homo antecessor who inhabited Western Europe around 850,000 years ago.

While the Homo antecessor had a slender midface that resembled modern people, the face of of the new fossil is more "projected forward and more robust," Maria Martinon-Torres, director of Spain's National Research Center on Human Evolution and study co-author, said.

Pink bears some resemblance to Homo erectus, which is why it has been provisionally named Homo affinis erectus.

Homo erectus lived around 2 million years ago and moved from Africa to regions of Asia and Europe.

The last individuals of the archaic human species died out around 100,000 years ago.

Researchers added that the incomplete fossils were not enough to conclude that Pink belonged to a yet-unnamed ancient human species but said that could be a real possibility.

Edited by: Kieran Burke