Face fragments from human ancestors are the oldest in Western Europe, according to results from a new study published this week.
The imperfect skull – the bone and maxillary section of the left cheek – was discovered in northern Spain in 2022, Journal Nature on wednesday.
Archaeologists believe the fossils are from 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old.
Researchers hope that this discovery will provide some new insights into the first inhabitants of Western Europe during the early Pleistocene era. Much of the information available from Western Europe is limited to the Iberian Peninsula.
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This photo was provided by the Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Catalonia in March 2025, showing archaeological excavation studies at the Sima del Elephantesite in Sierra de Atapalca, Burgos, Spain. (Maria D. Guillen/Iphes-Cerca via AP)
While an old collection of fossils from early human ancestors was previously discovered in Georgia, Spanish fossils are the first evidence that clearly demonstrated that human ancestors were “on excursions to Europe at the time.”
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Still, there is no evidence that the earliest arrival stayed there for the longest, Potts said.
This image, provided by the Catalan Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in March 2025, shows the fossils of the left midface of humanity from 1.1 million to 1.4 million years ago, recovered from the sites of Sierra del Elephante, Ataperca, Burgos and Spain. (Maria D. Guillen/Iphes-Cerca, Elena Santos/Cenieh via AP)
The partial skull has similarities with Homoerectus, but there are also some anatomical differences, said Rosa Fuguet, a co-author of the study, an archaeologist of human paleoecology and social evolution in Tarragona, Spain.
This photo was provided by the Catalan Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution Society in March 2025. Dr. Rosa Fuguet, a researcher at Ifes Serka and researcher at Robira I-Vilgiri University, has fossils of humanity from 1.1 million to 1.4 million years old, found on the archaeological site of Spine. (Maria D. Guillen/Iphes-Cerca via AP)
Homoerectus originated about 2 million years ago, moving from Africa to regions in Asia and Europe, with the last individual dead about 100,000 years ago, Potts said.
This image shows the left midface fossils between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years, provided by the Institute for Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Catalan in March 2025 and recovered from the Simadel Elephantesite in Sierra de Ata Pureca, Burgos, Spain. (Maria D. Guillen/Iphes-Cerca via AP)
“The University of Zurich anthropologist Christophe Zolikofer, who was not involved in the study,” said Solikofer, a paleontologist at Killion University, who was not involved in the study.
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The same cave complex in the Atapuerca Mountains in Spain, where new fossils were discovered, previously brought other important clues to the ancient human past. Researchers working in the area also discovered recent Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens fossils.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
