Edgar Téllez, a member of the Atapuerca Research Team, discovered bone remains covered by clay while excavating in the Sima del Elefante cave site in Atapuerca on June 30, 2022. It was found on Level TE7 in Quadrant K29 in Sima del Elefante. The discovery was revealed to be a partial face or jaw bone of a hominin in an announcement made by the team on July 08, 2022. With an estimated age of 1.4 million years, ATE7-1 is the oldest hominin fossil discovered in Europe [1][2][3]. 

ATE7-1 was found 2 meters below the ATE9-1 [4], a mandible found in 2007 that was dated to 1.2 million years ago, indicating that it is older. Geological samples will be sent to the Geochronology laboratories of the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) in Burgos, Spain, to determine the age of ATE7-1. Electronic Spin Resonance (ESR), Paleomagnetism, and Cosmogenic Nuclides will be used to date the samples. The Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES) in Tarragona will analyze associated faunal remains with evidence of human consumption and stone tools [1][5].