1.1 MYA Fossil Hominin Found in Spain

The current issue of Nature has an article I thought might interest the class - a million-year-old fossil hominin found in Spain. The remains, found at the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca site in northern Spain, consist of a lower jawbone, stone tools, and animal remains that show signs of human processing. The authors suggest that the specimen may be assigned to the species Homo antecessor, and the find supports an early migration of humans from Africa into Europe sometime in the Early Pleistocene.

Carbonell et al. 2008. The first hominin of Europe. Nature 452:465-469.