Atapuerca, Spain - March 14, 2025 A bombshell discovery in the rugged hills of Sierra de Atapuerca has turned the story of Europe’s first inhabitants upside down. Scientists from IPHES-CERCA have unearthed a facial fragment, nicknamed ‘Pink,’ at the Sima del Elefante site. This fossil, a midface dated between 1.4 million and 1.1 million years ago, is now the oldest human face ever found in Western Europe. And it’s not what experts expected. The study, published in Nature, reveals this relic belongs to Homo aff. erectus, a primitive species that stomps all over previous theories. Unlike the more modern-looking Homo antecessor, found nearby at Gran Dolina and dated to 900,000 to 800,000 years ago, ‘Pink’ boasts rugged, ancient features. Its midface lacks the sleek, modern traits of later humans, but it’s a step ahead of fossils from Dmanisi and other early hominins in its nasoalveolar region. This jaw-dropping find answers big questions. Who were Europe’s first settlers? What did they look like? For years, the Iberian Peninsula has been the only window into Western Europe’s murky Early Pleistocene past. Now, ‘Pink’ suggests a dramatic twist: a population shake-up at the end of that era. Experts reckon the Sima del Elefante and Gran Dolina sites show a turnover, with Homo aff. erectus paving the way before Homo antecessor took over. History, it seems, just got a facelift.