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Prehistoric skull found

Madrid: Palaeontologists excavating a dump outside Barcelona have found a skull dating back 14 million years that could belong to a common ancestor of apes and humans. The nearly intact skull, which has a flat face, jaw and teeth, may belong to a previously unknown species of great ape, said Salvador Moya, the chief palaeontologist on the dig. ``We could find a cradle of humanity in the Mediterranean,'' he said. A routine land survey for a planned expansion of the Can Mata dump in Els Hostalets de Pierola turned up the first surprise in 2002: a primate's tooth. Last year, the team found a 13 million-year-old skeleton, believed to be an ancestor of apes and humans — a male fruit-eater, nicknamed Pau.

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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