Europe's oldest human fossil found in Spain

The ancient fossil is part of a human jawbone

Archaeologists in Spain believe they have found the oldest human fossil ever unearthed in Europe.

Researchers say the fossil - part of a jawbone - was found in the Atapuerca mountain range in the north of the country.

Experts believe it could be around 1.4 million years old.

In fact, they think the jawbone is so old, it doesn't belong to the current Homo Sapiens human species but to that of an older extinct ancestor!

What did scientists find?

Archaeologists found the fossil at a site in Northern Spain

Experts found the fossil at an archaeological site in the Atapuerca mountains last month.

The area is well known for containing one of the richest records of prehistoric human occupation in Europe.

Until now, the oldest human fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the same site 15 years ago, which was determined to be 1.2 million years old.

The Atapuerca Foundation, which runs the archaeological site, said that is "very likely" that the jawbone fragment "belongs to one of the first populations that colonised Europe".

Researchers will now use scientific dating techniques to analyse the jaw and work out if they're correct with their estimate for the age of the jawbone.

They say it could take between six to eight months to find out for certain.

If they are correct with their 1.4 million-year-old prediction, the fossil would be the oldest one ever discovered in Europe.

Experts are hoping that the analysis could also help identify which ancient human species the jawbone fragment belongs to and better understand our ancestors who evolved on the European continent.