A team of archaeologists working at the sites of Atapuerca in northern Spain have discovered a fragment of the jaw of a man who lived between about 1.2 and 1.4 million years ago.. These are the oldest remains found in Europe.. It is reported by Radio Liberty with a link to the newspaper El Pais.

Scientists spoke about the discovery at a press conference in Burgos on July 8. The find may be 200,000 years older than the previous oldest remains found in the same area in 2007.. It was found approximately two meters deeper than the previous one, which with a high degree of probability means its older age..

Archaeologists still find it difficult to say what kind of ancestors of modern man belong to the remains in Atapuerca. Excavations at this site will continue.. Scientists hope that further study of the sites will help to learn more about the history of the settlement of Europe.

The people of Atapuerca were nomads and established their camps in areas rich in game and fruits.. However, traces of ritual cannibalism were found in the camps.. In 1997, researchers studying sites in northern Spain described a new species of Homo - the human predecessor (Homo antecessor).

The age of this find was about 800 thousand years, which made it the oldest in Europe at that time.. It is assumed that Homo antecessor could be the ancestors of Homo heidelbergensis, which in turn were the ancestors of the Neanderthals.. The growth of adult Homo antecessor ranged from 1.65 to 1.85 meters. If a member of this species was cut and combed, he would not stand out from the crowd in the subway, writes science editor El Pais.

As previously reported, scientists have sequenced the oldest human DNA and came to the conclusion that it is more similar to Neanderthal DNA.. During the research, scientists studied DNA, which is 430 thousand years old, found in the Spanish cave of Atapuerca.