Register for CNN’s Miracle Theory Science Communication. News about exploring the universe, news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements, and more.
The story of European human evolution has new characteristics.
According to new research, based on fragments of fossil bone found in a cave in northern Spain in 2022, a previously unknown population has been found inhabited 1.1 million years ago.
The fossils were found in the Sima del Elevente site on the Atapuerca mountain and constituted a partial skull composed of the left side of adult human proteins. Mineralized bones are by far the earliest human fossils discovered in Western Europe.
But the team found which species of prehistoric humans was not obvious, and the study describing fossils was published Wednesday in the journal Nature and did not provide a clear answer.
The team suspected that the specimen belonged to HOMO HIRECTUS, a well-known species found in Africa and Asia, but never had a final body found in Europe.
“This conclusion is the most honest proposal we can make,” María Martinón-Torres, director of Cenieh, Spain’s National Center for Human Evolution Research, told a press conference Tuesday.
“It’s cautious, but it’s also a bit bold because we don’t have the possibility of ending with different possibilities.”
In the Sima del Elevente site in the mountainous region of Atapuerca near Burgos, Spain, the original fossils are called ATE7-1, and are called ATE7-1. -Maria D.Guillén/iphes-cerca
Mysterious early relatives
The Spanish mountainous areas where fossils were discovered are an important place for paleoanthropology.
In the mid-1990s, scientists discovered an early human relative, known as the Homo Torecrector, from about 80 fossils, found at a site called Gran Dolina near Sima del Elefante. These are still around 850,000 years old.
However, Martinón-Torres said the morphology of the skull fossils discovered in 2022 does not match the characteristics of HOMO TORESERS. This ancient man is considered to be the earliest known inhabitants of Western Europe, predating the Neanderthals and appeared on the mainland about 400,000 years ago.
The “very modern face” of a homosexual, very similar to the faces that our species, Homo Sapiens, has, is vertical and flat. But this new human is different. ” she said.
She added: “It has more front faces…which makes it similar to other compatriots (specimens).
The team also reanalysed some of the jaws found in Sima del Elefante in 2007, but had slightly higher sediment levels. The study authors now believe it belongs to the same prehistoric population.
However, only a small part of the face makes it impossible to eventually identify a species of humans. Therefore, the team assigned it to Homo affinis rectus, which has a meaning similar to affinis, to show that fossils are closely related but distinctive to known species.
“We still have to dig into the lower levels of Sima del Elevente. So who knows? We might have more surprises,” said Martington-Torres.
“I think the key discovery is that we have recorded the first time human populations we don’t know in Europe.”
Detective job
Chris Stringer, head of human evolution at the Natural History Museum in London, said the discovery was a “very important discovery”.
“The facial shape is different from the previous members (and H. sapiens) in the characteristics of less prominent noses and less delicate che bones, and therefore more similar to some erect fossils,” Stringer said via email.
“But I think the authors are correct only by caution to link Elevente’s findings to the H. hictus species. They are not complete for any clear conclusion.”
The research says that rebuilding fragmented facial fossils requires combining traditional techniques such as analysis and comparison of fossils through visual inspection, with advanced imaging and 3D analysis. Instead of dating the fossil directly, the researchers dated the sediment layers of the fossil layer based on three different ways, which they estimated were between 1.4 million and 1.1 million years.
The team also slaughtered animal bones from the scene using cut traces and stone tools. The study said that the population could have lived in woodland environments, and wetland grasslands would be rich in prey.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account on CNN.com
