Fragments of a Face

In a cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca mountains of northern Spain called Sima del Elefante, researchers have found fossilized bone fragments of the earliest known face in Western Europe. The hominin who owned the face is estimated to be 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old.

Discovered in 2022, portions of the left side of an adult face significantly predate those of Homo antecessor, the oldest hominin species previously found at the site. The remains were named “Pink” after the rock band Pink Floyd.

Hominins include all the groups of modern humans, extinct human species, and all our immediate ancestors.

Pink doesn’t fit into the known hominin species, and has, for now, been classified as Homo affinis erectus, which means they are closely related to Homo erectus, an extinct species of man. In Latin, Homo erectus means “upright man”.

Pink’s facial features are more primitive than modern man. It resembles Homo erectus, especially with its flat nasal structure. But it is possible that pink may belong to another species.

This archaeological site was discovered at the end of the 19^th century and early 20^th century. It has been systematically excavated since 1978. Besides ancient human skulls, it has revealed evidence of cannibalism. At the same level of the cave were found animal remains with cut marks and stone tools.

Pink lived in a humid forest landscape with water streaming through the area. It was a wetter, more temperate climate than it is now. These fossilized facial pieces add to our knowledge of some of the first human relatives in Europe. The discovery supports the idea that Pink was a relative of Homo erectus fossils found much further east, as far as Indonesia, as well as in Africa.

The discovery that different hominin populations occupied Western Europe during the early Pleistocene epoch suggests that this region was a key point in man’s evolutionary history. The early Pleistocene epoch extends from 2.6 million years ago to 781,000 years ago.

It seems that Pink occupied an evolutionary space between the oldest known hominins (in South Africa, roughly 3.4 to 3.7 million years ago) and Homo antecessor (about 860,000 years ago). Researchers said that the evidence points to the hominins arrived in Spain via Eastern Europe.

There is more work to do, like excavating lower levels of Sima del Elefante, so they may find even more surprises.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/fragments-of-a-face-more-than-a-million-years-old-found-in-spanish-cave/ar-AA1AMV64?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=92b66b3d61ca48d8deba7416e37ab7fb&ei=87