A jawbone fragment discovered in northern Spain last month could be the oldest known fossil of a human ancestor found to date in Europe. The researchers on Friday said the fossil found at an archaeological site on June 30 in northern Spain's Atapuerca mountain range is around 1.4 million years old.

Until now, the oldest hominid fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the same site in 2007, determined to be 1.2 million years old. Atapuerca contains one of the richest records of prehistory.