From 14 September to 4 October 2025, a new excavation campaign has been carried out at the renowned hominid site of Tighennif, in western Algeria. This work forms part of a multidisciplinary research project led by Mohamed Sahnouni, coordinator of the Archaeology Program at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH). The project aims to document the early Acheulean industry of North Africa and to investigate the behavior of Homo erectus in a semi-arid environment.

The 2025 campaign is being highly successful, meeting all the planned objectives. Excavations expanded into new areas, yielding additional archaeological assemblages. Researchers have uncovered numerous fossil remains of large mammals, including hippopotamus, elephant, equids, and bovids, as well as Acheulean stone tools. Sediment samples have been also collected to carry out detailed pollen analyses that will help reconstruct the vegetation and environment inhabited by Homo erectus more than one million years ago.

The Tighennif project also involves the participation of Pilar Fernández Colón, head of the CENIEH Conservation Laboratory, who is responsible for fossil preservation.

This initiative is the result of a close collaboration between the CENIEH and the CNRPAH (Centre National de Recherche en Préhistoire, Anthropologie et Histoire) of Algeria, with financial support from both the Algerian institution and the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain.