Face of earliest human seen for first time

Sarah Knapton
Tue, September 29, 2026 



Dress him in modern clothes and he'd fit right in today, said one of the researchers - MDPI.com/Heritage journal


The face of the earliest human ever found has been reconstructed after 300,000 years.

In the 1960s, a human-like fossilised skull was discovered during mineral extraction in Jebel Irhoud, western Morocco, and archaeologists initially thought it belonged to a Neanderthal.

But a reappraisal in 2017 showed it was the earliest Homo sapiens ever recorded, dating to around 315,000 years ago - a time before humans had ventured out of Africa.

Now experts have recreated the facial features of the man, and he looked surprisingly similar to modern humans.


Cicero Moraes, a world leader in forensic facial reconstruction, who led the research, 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.

The skull used in the recreation is one of a select few found at a site in Morocco - MDPI.com/Heritage journal

How face was recreated...

To recreate the face, a global group of experts used a 3D digital reconstruction of the Jebel Irhoud skull produced by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

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, complete with dark skin and hair.

Although the skull reveals no evidence of skin tone, hair or eye colour, the team added in 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.

A greyscale version of the face, without hair and beard, was produced - MDPI.com/Heritage journal

...and how it compares to modern men

The team also 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 has barely changed in 300,000 years.


Prof Francesco Galassi, an anatomist from Italy's University of Pavia 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."

Researchers warned 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 they argue the skull imposes constraints on musculature and tissue, so the man's face is 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 individual Homo sapiens, comprising three adults, an adolescent and a child.

Stone tools, including scrapers, flakes and piercers were also found, as well as evidence 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.