The Sierra de Atapuerca (in Burgos, Spain) deposits team has just beaten its world record, Find, for the third timefor the oldest human in Western Europe.
He did it for the first time in 1994, when at the TD6 level of the large doline site he discovered the human remains of a new species that have baptized as Predecessor homo. These fossils, dated in about 900,000 years, have challenged the idea that the oldest human presence in Western Europe has not exceeded half a million years. But also Predecessor homo He gave his face with a surprisingly modern face.
The hominids of the large doline showed a flat face, very similar to that of our own species, Homo sapiensdespite his age. In a beautiful scientific paradox, Predecessor homo He showed us the oldest modern face of humanity.
Predecessor it was not the oldest
In 2007, in the Sima del Elefante, a site located no more than 300 meters from the great sinkhole, was again The oldest human in Europe. This time it was a human jaw, found at the Te9 level, dated in about 1.2 million years.
The new jaw, cataloged as Ate9-1, presented in the front of the region of the chin or symphysis a series of primitive characteristics, something logical given its great antiquity. However, on the internal surface of the symphysis, the bone was vertical and more graceful than expected, especially compared to other contemporary hominids.
However, the fossil was too fragmented to be able to assign it to any type, not even to confirm or discard its belonging to Predecessor homo. So Ate9-1 was classified as Homo sp., A term with which we recognized their belonging to the genre HomoBut we also accepted our inability to perfect more at that moment and with the tests available.
There are no two without three
As the saying says, “there are no two without three”. And in 2022, against any forecast, the excavation team of the Sima of the Elefante Abyss discovered the left half of the face of a hominide at the level of Te9. This fossil was two and a half meters below the level at which the jaw at9-1 had been found, which meant that it was even older.
In the following two years, an interdisciplinary and multi -institutional team, with the exceptional participation of the Catalan Institute of human and evolved social clearing (evolved (evolved social (social evidentIphes) and the National Center for Research on Human Evolution (Censieh), he dedicated himself to the study and restoration of the fossil. We use both classic and advanced image techniques, including microTomography (MCT). The MCT, based on X -rays, allows you to view the inside of the fossils and digitally manipulate them, without the need to touch them, which facilitates the reconstruction of the puzzle and the comparison with other samples without having to access the original fossils, distributed all over the world.
The new fossil has been nicknamed “Pink”, alluding to the music band Pink Floyd and its album The hidden face of the moon. Although I must confess that, to a large extent, the research team has adopted that name as recognition to our partner Rosa Huuguet (rose It is the English translation of the “pink” color), a researcher of Iphes-Cerca, coordinator of the works of the Sima of the elephant e The main author of the study, published in the magazine Nature.
The rose has a more robust face
The main conclusion of the study that has just published Nature is that pink does not belong to the species Predecessor homo. The new fossil presents clear differences in the region, precisely, of the face, which is more robust and projected forward in the case of ATE7-1, and in clear contrast with the graceful face of the hominids of the great saint. Furthermore, we believe that in pink the region of the nose was flattened and sunk, similar to that of the species Man’s warning and other non -human primates.
However, ATE7-1 also has some characteristics that do not allow us to host it directly inside H. ErectusLike his relatively closer and shorter face.
In light of these characteristics, the Atapuerca team has decided to classify it as Homo related erectus (abbreviated as H. Aff. erectus) a term with which the similarities he has with the species are recognized H. Erectus But the possibility of belonging to another completely different species is left open.
The family photo is completed
This discovery reveals the existence of a human species that, so far, have not documented in Europe. The photographic album of the European Pleistocene family included the photograph of H. predecessorModern and human neanderthals. Now we add to this album, the photograph, a little blurred, of a new relative, hoping that more studies and firms allow us to concentrate better.
On the other hand, the discovery leads us to a reflection on science that can be made and should. There is no doubt that Atapuerca is an exceptionally rich archaeological and paleontological complex. The years show that the Burgos caves have been able to capture evidence, as scarce and fragmentary, of each of the episodes in which Europe was inhabited, from the first to the last.
But in Atapuerca not everything is luck – that there is also – but above all, there is a determination and a commitment. Nothing remains when Hazar. And the site is a reliable proof that when science takes seriously, the results come. And this, to thrive, takes time and a constant dedication, both the researchers and the institutions that support and guarantee their sustainability.
We hope that this result will give us the encouragement necessary to continue looking for new peaks.
María Martinón-TorresDirector Cenieh, Research Team Atapuercuerc and author of “Man Imperfect” (edited by Destiny) National Center for Research On Human Evolution (Cenieh)
This entry was originally published in The conversation. Read the original.
