Homo heidelbergensis skull (Cranium 5) and cervical vertebra. Excavated in 1992 from the Sima de los Huesos pit in the Atapuerca foothills in Spain, this fossil skull dates from around 400,000 years ago. Dubbed Miguelon, this individual had a severe bone infection caused by broken teeth, causing major deformation of his face. Homo heidelbergensis is an extinct species that forms a relatively recent part of the human evolutionary tree. It may have been an ancestor of both Neanderthals and modern humans.