LONDON, 30 Sept. - (ANA) - The face of the oldest human ever found has been reconstructed after more than 300,000 years.

 

The man’s features have been recreated digitally from a fossilised skull that was discovered in the 1960s during mineral extraction in Jebel Irhoud, western Morocco.

 

Scientists initially thought the remains belonged to a Neanderthal, but a reappraisal in 2017 showed it was the earliest Homo sapiens recorded.

 

Experts have pointed out that – despite living around 315,000 years ago, before humans had ventured out of Africa – he looked surprisingly similar to modern humans.

 

Cicero Moraes, a world leader in forensic facial reconstruction, who led the work, said: “If he were dressed in modern clothes in the middle of a crowd, he would likely pass unnoticed at first glance.”

 

Only a closer look would reveal slight deviations, he said, including a more “robust” brow and greater facial projection.

 

 

 

 

To recreate the face, the experts used a 3D digital reconstruction of the Jebel Irhoud skull, produced by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, based in Leipzig, Germany. They added soft tissue and anatomical details based on datasets of people from Africa.

 

The team found subtle differences in face shape compared to modern humans, including a more prominent chin, a wider nose and a larger head circumference.

 

Two versions of the face were produced in the research – one in greyscale, to highlight the underlying anatomy, and a full-colour bust, with dark skin and hair.

 

Although the skull reveals no evidence of skin tone, hair or eye colour, the team added dark hair and a beard. These were considered “plausible traits” for someone from North Africa around 315,000 years ago, based on previous studies of archaic and modern humans.

 

 

 

 

The team calculated brain volume and found a value of 1,230 cm3 – very close to the average for modern adult males, which is 1,234 cm3. It suggested brain size had barely changed in 300,000 years.

 

Prof Francesco Galassi, an anatomist from the University of Pavia in Italy, and one of the authors of the study, said: “It is always a fantastic experience to see the completed face and observe how much it resembles – and yet differs from – today’s population.

 

“It is impossible not to wonder what his daily life was like, how he solved his problems, and what went through his mind.”

 

There are no known remains of soft tissue from Homo sapiens of the time, so it is possible the muscle configurations were different from modern humans, leading to an altered appearance.

 

However, the researchers argued that the skull imposed constraints on musculature and tissue, so the man’s face was unlikely to have looked significantly different from the reconstruction.

 

To date, excavations have uncovered 22 hominid fossil bones at Jebel Irhoud, representing at least five Homo sapiens, believed to be three adults, an adolescent and a child.

 

Stone tools, including scrapers, flakes and piercers have also been found, as well as evidence that the group used fire.

 

Animal bones near the fossils showed signs of butchery, suggesting the humans ate large and small game, including wildebeest, gazelles, zebra and ostrich eggs.

 

The research was published in the journal Heritage.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/30 September 2026  - - -