Scientists reconstruct face of 315,000-year-old Homo sapiens

Researchers have successfully created a digital reconstruction of the face of the oldest known human, estimated to be approximately 315,000 years old. The project is based on ancient fossils discovered at the Jebel Irhoud site in Morocco.

Originally thought to be Neanderthal remains from 40,000 years ago, further research published in 2017 revealed the fossils belong to Homo sapiens, pushing back the timeline of modern human emergence by 100,000 years. The reconstruction, led by designer Cícero Moraes, combined skull fragments from one specimen with a jawbone from another found in the same layer.

The resulting face features prominent brow ridges, a strong jaw, and larger teeth compared to contemporary humans, though the overall structure remains remarkably similar to modern people. The team utilized tissue thickness data from modern humans to map the features onto the ancient bone structure, producing both a scientific grey-scale model and an artistic colored version.