Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – The story of human evolution in Europe has gained a new dimension with recent discoveries. According to recent research, fossilized bone fragments discovered in a cave located in northern Spain in 2022 have unveiled the existence of a previously unidentified human population that inhabited the region over 1.1 million years ago.
These fossils, discovered at the Sima del Elefante site within the Atapuerca Mountains, consist of a partial skull featuring the left side of an adult hominin’s face. Notably, these mineralized bones represent the earliest known human fossil remains identified in Western Europe.
Archaeologists are conducting excavations near the cave at the Sima del Elefante site, located near Burgos in northern Spain. This site is notable for the discovery of fossilized skull fragments, which provide valuable insights into early human history and evolution. Credit: Maria D. Guillén/IPHES-CERCA
There’s no doubt that this represents a groundbreaking advancement in the study of European human evolution. The insights gained from this research are pivotal, offering unprecedented clarity and understanding of our ancestral past. Embracing these findings will undoubtedly enrich our knowledge and reshape our perspectives on human history.
Who Were The First Inhabitants In Western Europe?
“Who the first inhabitants of Western Europe were, what their physical characteristics were, and when and where they lived are some of the pending questions in the study of the settlement of Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene epoch. The available palaeoanthropological information from Western Europe is limited and confined to the Iberian Peninsula,” the scientists write in their study published in the journal Nature.
Comparison of the zygomaxillary border and the zygomaxillary tubercle. Frontal view of the virtual reconstruction of a) ATE7-1, b) D2282, c) D2700, d) ATD6-69, e) D4500, f) Sangiran 17 and g) ATD6-58. White arrow points to the zygomaxillary border which is curved in H. antecessor (d,g) and straight in the rest of the specimens, including ATE7-1. Red arrow points to the presence of a zygomaxillary tubercle in ATD6-69 and ATD6-58,
a feature that seems to be absent in ATE7-1 and in the Early Pleistocene specimens from Dmanisi and Sangiran portrayed for comparison. Credit: Huguet, R., Rodríguez-Álvarez, X.P., Martinón-Torres, M. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08681-0
The research team explains that the midface of a hominin found at the TE7 level of the Sima del Elefante site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) has been dated to between 1.4 million and 1.1 million years ago. “This fossil (ATE7-1) represents the earliest human face of Western Europe identified thus far. Most of the morphological features of the midface of this hominin are primitive for the Homo clade and they do not display the modern-like aspect exhibited by Homo antecessor found at the neighbouring Gran Dolina site, also in the Sierra de Atapuerca, and dated to between 900,000 and 800,000 years ago.
Furthermore, ATE7-1 is more derived in the nasoalveolar region than the Dmanisi and other roughly contemporaneous hominins. On the basis of the available evidence, it is reasonable to assign the new human remains from TE7 level to Homo aff.erectus. From the archaeological, palaeontological, and palaeoanthropological information obtained in the lower levels of the Sima del Elefante and Gran Dolina sites, we suggest a turnover in the human population in Europe at the end of the Early Pleistocene.
Despite this significant find, determining the exact species of prehistoric human proved challenging for researchers. The study outlining these fossils does not offer a conclusive identification. However, researchers hypothesize that these specimens may belong to Homo erectus—a species well-documented through fossils found across Africa and Asia but not yet definitively identified within Europe.
Mysterious Unknown Early Human Relatives In Europe
The mountainous region of Spain, where significant fossil discoveries have been made, holds great importance for paleoanthropology. In the mid-1990s, scientists identified an early human relative called Homo antecessor from approximately 80 fossils found at Gran Dolina near Sima del Elefante. These remains are dated to around 850,000 years ago.
The original fossil, designated as ATE7-1, represents the midface of an unidentified hominin. This significant discovery was made at the Sima del Elefante site located in the Atapuerca Mountains near Burgos, Spain. Credit: Maria D. Guillén/IPHES-CERCA
However, María Martinón-Torres, director of CENIEH (Spain’s National Human Evolution Research Centre), noted that the skull fossil discovered in 2022 did not align with the characteristics of Homo antecessor. Previously considered the earliest known inhabitant of Western Europe before Neanderthals appeared about 400,000 years ago, Homo antecessor had a “very modern-like face,” similar to that of Homo sapiens—vertical and flat. In contrast, this new hominin exhibits a more projecting forward face akin to other Homo erectus specimens.
The research team also reexamined a partial lower jawbone found in 2007 at Sima del Elefante but from a slightly higher sediment level. They now believe it belonged to the same prehistoric human population. Due to limited facial remains available for analysis, identifying the species conclusively was not possible. Consequently, they have classified it as Homo affinis erectus—where “affinis” means akin—to suggest its close relation yet distinction from known species.
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“We still have to excavate the lower levels of Sima del Elefante. So who knows? We may have more surprises,” Martinón-Torres said.
“I think the key finding is that we are documenting for the first time a hominin population that we did not know we had in Europe.”
The study was published in the journal Nature
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
