Spanish researchers say they have excavated fossils from potential prehistoric members of new prehistoric periods of human family trees, and are the earliest known remains of faces discovered in Western Europe.
The bones of the adult facial bones were discovered in 2022 at the Atapoelca Archaeological Site in northern Spain. Since then, a team of scientists have been working to learn more about humanity called Pink. The researchers shared their findings in a study in the journal Nature, published Tuesday.
The pink body was dated between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years, researchers said.
According to AFP News Agency, the study “introduces new actors in the history of human evolution in Europe,” says Rosa Fuguet, research author at the University of Robila University I Virgili in Spain.
The findings suggest that early humans settled in Europe and moved westward from the east side of the continent about 1.4 million years ago, researchers said. Until now, the oldest known human species in Western Europe was the homo alivisor. Experts have discovered relics of homo ribrexals from around 850,000 years ago.
Maria D. Gillen/Ifes Kerkha
The oldest human ancestors found in any part of Europe are the people of Domanishi, or the group who currently live in the country of Georgia. The remains of that species date back 1.8 million years ago. They are the first members of the human family known to travel from Africa to Europe.
“Pink” face
The fossilized maxilla and partial zygotes were excavated from a 52-foot deep silt and mud layer of Schimadel Elephante. Or, it was excavated from the “Elephant Hole,” a site less than 1,000 feet from where the homo-alist Deutham fossil was discovered in 1994.
Maria D. Gillen/Ifes Kerkha
From these fossilized bones, researchers were able to create models of pink faces using 3D imaging techniques. The face is “more and more robust” than the faces of modern humans and homo-ali-ali-letters, Maria Martinon Torres, director of the National Research Center for Spain’s Evolution, told AFP.
Credits: Maria D. Guillen / Iphes-Cerca / Elena Santos / Cenieh
The pink face has some similarities with the human ancestor Homoerectus, the researchers said. The species lasted about 2 million years. He was the first human species to evolve. We use more familiar proportions of human bodies, fires and tools. The species remains have been found in Africa, Asia and Europe.
However, there were not enough similarities for scientists to confirm that Pink is a member of its kind. Instead, they propose that pink can belong to a new possible species called Homo Affinis’erectus.
“This is the most honest suggestion we can make with the evidence we have,” said Martinon Torres, according to AFP.
Scientists were also able to analyze small stone tools and animal bones found at the excavation site to learn more about how Pink lived. The environment at the time was a humid forest landscape, with the early population living with horses, ancient cows, monkeys and hippopotamus, researchers said. There could also be plenty of water in the area, which would make it a “ideal” place for the seeds to settle, Huguet said at a press conference.
Researchers suggested that the species could be a bridge between Homo Georgix and Homo Ali Dutch species. Research co-author Jose Maria Bermudes de Castro told AFP it was likely that it “probably disappeared” during the severe global cooling era that occurred nearly 900,000 years ago.
Scientists said research at the excavation site will continue.
I contributed to this report.
