1.4-Million-Year-Old Facial Fossil in Spain: How Early Did Homo erectus Ancestors Reach Europe?

In 2022, researchers at the Atapuerca archaeological complex in northern Spain unearthed a partial human face (catalogued as ATE7-1) in the Sima del Elefante (“Elephant Pit”) site. Nicknamed “Pink,” the fossil — a left maxilla with cheekbone — was formally announced in March 2025 and dated to between 1.1 and 1.4 million years ago.

This makes Pink the oldest known human facial remains in Western Europe. The specimen is provisionally classified as Homo affinis erectus — an early member of the Homo erectus lineage or a closely related archaic hominin. It features a projecting face, flatter nasal region, and robust morphology distinct from the later Homo antecessor (previously considered Europe’s earliest hominin at ~800,000–900,000 years old, also from Atapuerca).

Implications for the European timeline
The discovery proves that hominins with clear erectus-like traits reached Western Europe at least 1.4 million years ago — roughly 500,000–600,000 years earlier than previously accepted. It indicates at least two distinct migration waves into Europe:

1. An early wave (~1.4 million years ago) by a more primitive, erectus-affiliated population.
2. A later wave (~900,000 years ago) that gave rise to Homo antecessor.

Stone tools and butchered animal bones found at the same stratigraphic level show these early Europeans already possessed lithic technology and meat-processing skills.

As of June 2026, Pink remains one of the most significant hominin discoveries of the decade. It confirms that the first human presence in Europe was far older and more complex than the single-arrival model once taught. The Atapuerca badlands continue to push back the clock on when our Homo erectus ancestors first stepped into the continent.