Overview

• 'Pink' is the nickname for a 1.1 to 1.4-million-year-old fossil discovered in 2022 at the Sima del Elefante site in Atapuerca, Spain.
• The fossil consists of part of the upper jaw and cheekbone, making it the oldest known human facial remains in Western Europe.
• Researchers have provisionally classified 'Pink' as Homo affinis erectus, a species with traits similar to but distinct from Homo erectus.
• This discovery challenges previous assumptions that Homo antecessor was the earliest human species to inhabit Western Europe.
• The findings suggest an earlier wave of migration into Europe, highlighting the region's importance in human evolutionary history.