Oldest Human Face Found, Dates Back Over a Million Years, Gives Clue About Ancient Ancestors

• Scientists in Spain have unearthed fossilised facial bones that may belong to a previously unknown human species, dating back between 1.1 and 1.4 million years
• The discovery, nicknamed "Pink" after the rock band Pink Floyd, represents the oldest face found in Western Europe
• Researchers are investigating this significant find to determine its place in the history of human evolution

Madrid, Spain – In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists in Spain have excavated fossilised facial bones that may belong to a previously unknown species of the human family.

The bones, estimated to be between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years old, were detailed in research published on March 12 in the journal Nature.

According to DailyMail UK and DW, the discovery has revealed the oldest face in Western Europe, nicknamed "Pink" after the English rock band Pink Floyd.

Specimen Discovered in 2022

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

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A team of Spanish scientists has since been diligently analysing the fossil to uncover more about this ancient human ancestor.

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

The bones were excavated at the Sima del Elefante cave site, located approximately 250 metres from where the fossils of Western Europe's previously oldest human, Homo antecessor, were found two decades ago.

What do scientists know?

The anatomy of Pink's face appears more primitive compared to Homo antecessor, who inhabited Western Europe around 850,000 years ago.

Unlike Homo antecessor's slender midface, which resembled modern humans, Pink's face is more "projected forward and more robust," explained Maria Martinon-Torres, director of Spain's National Research Center on Human Evolution and study co-author.

Pink shares some characteristics with Homo erectus, leading to its provisional name, Homo affinis erectus.

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Homo erectus lived around 2 million years ago, migrating from Africa to parts of Asia and Europe, with the last individuals dying out around 100,000 years ago.

While the incomplete fossils are not sufficient to definitively classify Pink as a new ancient human species, researchers acknowledge that it remains a real possibility.

New Earth with conditions suitable for people found

Legit.ng earlier reported that in a finding published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics recently, a 'super-Earth' planet was found outside of the solar system that could have conditions suitable for life.

According to experts at the University of Oxford, the planet known as HD 20794 d has a mass six times greater than Earth's and orbits within the 'habitable zone' of a star similar to the sun.

Located 20 light-years away, scientists believe that HD 20794 d could be at an optimal distance from its nearest star to sustain water on its surface. HD 20794 d was first identified by Dr Cretignier in 2022 after detecting a possible signal while analysing archived data from the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher spectrograph at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.

Source: Legit.ng