research group Deposits of the Sierra de Atapuercain Burgos announced the discovery of what they called the “face of the first European,” which could be a major milestone in European archeology by pushing back the first hominid remains found on the Old Continent to 1.4 million years ago.
At a press conference this Friday, Atapuerca co-directors Juan Luis Arsuaga, José MarÃa Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell announced the discovery, which comes in the middle of a summer excavation campaign at the UNESCO World Heritage site. .
The discovery would take place at the site of the oldest dated entire mountain range, Cima del Elephante, where campaigns in 2007, 2008 and 2009 found the oldest hominid bone remains in Europe.
Specifically, it was a molar, jaw, and fur around 1.2 or 1.3 million years old, but whose species could not be determined, so it was named. Homo sp. (no affiliation).
In the middle of the campaign, the remains of a lithic industry were discovered in a layer that can be dated to 1.4 million years ago, and which would indicate the presence of people at that time with the facial bone that they have this Friday. was announced.
Source: El Diario
