西欧最早的人类面孔，这一成果由José María Bermúdez de Castro研究组经过不懈努力而取得。相关论文于2025年3月12日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》杂志上。

在这里，该课题组人员展示了在西马德尔埃莱凡特遗址（西班牙阿塔普尔卡山脉）TE7水平发现的一个人族的大部分中脸，其年代在一百四十百万和一百一十百万年前。这个化石（ATE7-1）代表了迄今为止发现的西欧最早的人脸。这具人科动物中脸的大部分形态特征属于人属进化支系的原始形态，并没有显示出在邻近的大多里纳遗址（同样位于阿塔普雷卡山脉）发现的智人祖先所表现出的现代人特征，后者的历史可追溯至90万至80万年前。

此外，ATE7-1在鼻肺泡区比德马尼西人和其他大致同时期的古人类更有来源。在现有证据的基础上，将新发现的人类遗骸从TE7级划分为人猿是合理的。根据在Sima del Elefante和Gran Dolina遗址的较低水平上获得的考古、古生物学和古人类学信息，课题组研究人员认为在早更新世末期，欧洲人口发生了一次更替。

据介绍，谁是西欧的第一批居民，他们的身体特征是什么，他们生活在何时何地，这些都是研究早更新世时期欧亚大陆定居的一些悬而未决的问题。来自西欧的现有古人类学资料有限，而且仅限于伊比利亚半岛。

附：英文原文

Title: The earliest human face of Western Europe

Author: Huguet, Rosa, Rodrguez-lvarez, Xos Pedro, Martinn-Torres, Mara, Vallverd, Josep, Lpez-Garca, Juan Manuel, Lozano, Marina, Terradillos-Bernal, Marcos, Expsito, Isabel, Oll, Andreu, Santos, Elena, Saladi, Palmira, de Lombera-Hermida, Arturo, Moreno-Ribas, Elena, Martn-Francs, Laura, Allu, Ethel, Nez-Lahuerta, Carmen, van der Made, Jan, Galn, Julia, Blain, Hugues-Alexandre, Cceres, Isabel, Rodrguez-Hidalgo, Antonio, Bargall, Amlia, Mosquera, Marina, Pars, Josep Maria, Marn, Juan, Pineda, Antonio, Lordkipanidze, David, Margveslashvili, Ann, Arsuaga, Juan Luis, Carbonell, Eudald, Bermdez de Castro, Jos Mara

Issue&Volume: 2025-03-12

Abstract: Who the first inhabitants of Western Europe were, what their physical characteristics were, and when and where they lived are some of the pending questions in the study of the settlement of Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene epoch. The available palaeoanthropological information from Western Europe is limited and confined to the Iberian Peninsula1,2. Here we present most of the midface of a hominin found at the TE7 level of the Sima del Elefante site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), dated to between 1.4million and 1.1million years ago. This fossil (ATE7-1) represents the earliest human face of Western Europe identified thus far. Most of the morphological features of the midface of this hominin are primitive for the Homo clade and they do not display the modern-like aspect exhibited by Homo antecessor found at the neighbouring Gran Dolina site, also in the Sierra de Atapuerca, and dated to between 900,000 and 800,000 years ago3. Furthermore, ATE7-1 is more derived in the nasoalveolar region than the Dmanisi and other roughly contemporaneous hominins. On the basis of the available evidence, it is reasonable to assign the new human remains from TE7 level to Homo aff. erectus. From the archaeological, palaeontological and palaeoanthropological information obtained in the lower levels of the Sima del Elefante and Gran Dolina sites4,5,6,7,8, we suggest a turnover in the human population in Europe at the end of the Early Pleistocene.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08681-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08681-0

来源：科学网  小柯机器人