Earliest human face fossil from Western Europe, nicknamed "Pink," discovered in Spanish pit

Researchers in Spain have unearthed a fossil from a potential new prehistoric member of the human family tree, and they say it's the earliest known remnants of a face discovered in Western Europe.

The facial bones from an adult were found at the Atapuerca archaeological site in northern Spain in 2022. Since then, a team of scientists has been working to learn more about the hominin, whom they nicknamed Pink. The researchers shared their findings in a study in the journal Nature, which was published on Tuesday. 

Pink's remains have been dated as between 1.1 and 1.4 million years old, the researchers said.