Archeologists unearth oldest ‘human face of western Europe’

Researchers claim to have uncovered the "oldest face in Western Europe" after excavating fragments of a skull at the Sima del Elefante site in Spain.

The skull, belonging to an individual nicknamed "Pink," is estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.4 million years old. The unearthed fragments include part of the upper jaw (maxilla) and the left cheekbone (zygomatic).

In an article published in Nature in March, the research team wrote: "This finding enables us to not only learn about the facial morphology of early Europeans, but also increase our knowledge of the evolutionary history of our ancestors in Europe."

Some researchers believe the individual may have been an early Homo erectus or at least closely related to that branch of hominins.

This discovery comes just a few months after scientists uncovered the oldest known modern human DNA, retrieved from bone remains found in the German town of Ranis.

(QG - Source: Indy 100 - Picture : © Unsplash)