Revolutionary Discovery: Unveiling the Face of an Overlooked Human Ancestor in Western Europe

Scientists have recently found the earliest human ancestor in Western Europe. This discovery, called “Pink,” shows an unusual face not like any other known species from that time. Rosa Huguet, who leads the excavation team from the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution in Spain, calls Pink “a new actor in the story of human evolution.”

The remains, which include part of a jaw and a cheekbone, were found in 2022 at the Atapuerca site in northern Spain. They’ve been dated to be between 1.1 and 1.4 million years old. When scientists reconstructed Pink’s face, they noticed it has fewer modern traits than expected. The features were narrow and flat, which suggests this hominin might represent an older, overlooked species that existed before Homo antecessor, the previously oldest known species in this area.

Interestingly, the name “Pink” comes from the Spanish word for face, which is also the word for side. This homage to Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side of the Moon makes it memorable.

Before Pink, the oldest known species in Western Europe was Homo antecessor, which lived around 800,000 to 1.2 million years ago and had features more similar to modern humans. In contrast, Pink’s flat face and less developed nose are reminiscent of Homo erectus, the first human species known to have left Africa and created complex tools.

This finding hints at the possibility that Pink and H. antecessor coexisted or that their timelines overlapped. María Martinón-Torres, a lead researcher on the project, expresses caution about classification. She notes that while Pink shows affinities to H. erectus, it remains uncertain if it belongs to a completely different species.

Martinón-Torres suggests that Pink may have migrated from eastern Europe, a theory supported by other archaeological finds. The earliest evidence of human activity in Europe dates back around 2 million years, indicating there was ample time for early humans to settle in areas like the Atapuerca complex.

At the excavation site of Sima del Elefante, along with Pink’s remains, researchers discovered stone tools and animal bones with cut marks, suggesting that these early humans used tools to survive in their environment.

However, there’s still much to learn. Experts have noted a gap in the timeline between where Pink was found and the neighboring site of Gran Dolina, where H. antecessor was discovered. Some researchers believe this gap indicates a possible depopulation event, potentially due to significant climate changes affecting available resources.

Genetic studies indicate a bottleneck in human diversity around 900,000 years ago, aligning with the findings at these excavation sites. Such gaps in our understanding of human evolution make discoveries like Pink crucial, as they could lead to fresh insights about ancient human life and migration patterns.

As excavations at the Sima del Elefante continue, there’s hope for more revelations about these early inhabitants of Europe. José María Bermúdez de Castro, co-director of the Atapuerca Project, believes we are entering a new and exciting chapter in understanding human evolution. The full study detailing these findings was published in the journal Nature.

For more information on early human activity in Europe, you might want to check the studies available on the Atapuerca archaeological site.

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