Oldest Human Fragments Found In La Rioja
A fragment of a human jawbone discovered in northern Spain last month could be the oldest known fossil of our ancestors yet found, according to Spanish palaeontologists.
The scientists said the fossil found at an archaeological site on June 30 in the Atapuerca region of La Rioja is believed to be around 1.4 million years old.
Until now, the oldest hominid fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the same site in 2007 which was determined to be 1.2 million years old.
Atapuerca contains one of the richest records of prehistoric human occupation in Europe.
Encontrada la cara del Primer Europeo.#Atapuerca nos abre de nuevo las puertas para descifrar el enigma de la aparición de la cara moderna. pic.twitter.com/lCSnJqM00q
— FUNDACION ATAPUERCA (@FATAPUERCA) July 8, 2022
Researchers will now have to “complete” their first estimate for the age of the jawbone fragment using scientific dating techniques, palaeoanthropologist Jose-Maria Bermudez de Castro, the co-director of the Atapuerca research project, said during a news conference.
But since the jawbone fragment was found some two meters below the layer of earth where the jawbone in 2007 was found, “it is logical and reasonable to think it is older,” he added.
The scientific dating of the jawbone fragment will be carried out at the National Centre for Research on Human Evolution in Burgos, in next door Castilla y Leon, located about 10 kilometres from Atapuerca.
The process should take between six to eight months to complete, Bermudez de Castro said.
The analysis could help identify which hominid species the jawbone fragment belongs to and better understand the human beings evolved on the European continent.
Scientists have so far been unable to determine with certainty which species the jawbone discovered in 2007 belonged to.
The fossil could correspond to the species called Homo Antecessor, discovered in the 1990s.
The Atapuerca Foundation which runs the archaeological site said in a statement that is “very likely” that the jawbone fragment “belongs to one of the first populations that colonized Europe.”
The archaeological site of Atapuerca was in 2000 included on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites and contains thousands of hominid fossils and tools.