Ancient face bones offer clues to identity of early humans in Europe
The cheekbone and upper jaw of an ancient hominin found in Sima del Elefante, Spain
Maria D. Guillén / IPHES-CERCA.
A fragmentary bone from a Spanish cave is the oldest human face ever found in western Europe. The bones are part of the cheek and upper jaw, and are between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years old.
The bones are substantially different from the next oldest hominin bones from the same area, suggesting two distinct groups of ancient humans lived in western Europe around a million years ago.
