If you’re a fan of the famous rock band Pink Floyd, you might be surprised to find out that a team of Spanish archaeologists consisting of Eudald Carbonell, Juan Luis Arsuaga, and Jose Maria Bermudez de Castro also have similar tastes in music. Otherwise, there’s no explanation why they decided to name the oldest human fossil found in Europe after the famous English rock music group.
According to Newsweek, the remains of the human ancestor were found at Level TE7 at the Sima del Elefante site of the Atapuerca Mountains in northern Spain, and they date back 1.4 million years. The fossils received the moniker ‘Pink,’ in honor of Pink Floyd and their 1973 album known as “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
Fundacion Atapuerca is the archaeological organization responsible for the discovery of the fossil, to be more precise.
A statement explains the discovery, as Newsweek quotes:
This is the face of the first European, which promises to be crucial in research on the emergence of modern faces. We are talking about such an emblematic find that the team has decided to give this fossil its own name, which from now on we will know as PINK, in tribute to the legendary album by the British rock band Pink Floyd, released in 1973 and called The Dark Side of the Moon.
The fossil includes part of the ancient individual’s face, including part of the nose, the maxilla, the malar bone, some parts from the eye socket, etc.
The idea to name a fossil after Pink Floyd is not so wild after all if we take a look at another piece of information shared by us back in March: a marine creature that was fossilized was named after US President Joe Biden. The fossilized vampire squid in question received the moniker Syllipsimopodi bideni, to be more precise.
