A French student has found an adult tooth dating back around 560,000 years in south-western France, in what researchers are hailing as a major discovery.

Valentin Loescher, 20, was volunteering alongside Camille Jacquey, 16, on his first summer archaeological dig at the Arago cave near Tautavel, when he discovered the tooth.

The tooth could be the oldest human remains found in France. It predates by 100,000 years the famous Tautavel man, a 20-year-old prehistoric hunter and ancestor of Neanderthal man, who was discovered at the site in 1971 and whose remains dated back about 450,000 years.

A closeup photo of the tooth found by Valentin Loescher at the Arago cave near Tautavel. Photograph: Denis Dainat/EPA

Amélie Vialet, a paleoanthropologist overseeing the excavation at the cave, told Agence France-Presse: “A large adult tooth – we can’t say if it was from a male or female – was found during excavations of soil we know to be between 550,000 and 580,000 years old, because we used different dating methods. This is a major discovery because we have very few human fossils from this period in Europe.”

The tooth before it was removed from the soil. Photograph: Denis Dainat/EPA

Yves Coppens, professor of paleoanthropology and prehistory at the Collège de France, who was part of the 1970s team that discovered the remains of the famous early human ancestor known as Lucy in Ethiopia, told France Info radio: “A tooth can tell us a whole range of things. Its shape and wear and tear tells us about the eating habits of the person in question; the tissue reveals a lot of information. The DNA can give an idea as to who this person was.”

Loescher, a history of art student from Metz, told France Television that while Jacquey was on a break he had been carefully brushing a mound of soil in his excavation area that featured lots of remains of large animals, when he found the small remains of a tooth.

He and Jacquey weren’t sure of the tooth’s significance, so took it to Vialet. Its profile was examined by computer and it was sent to a laboratory. “At that moment, there was a lot of excitement,” Loescher said.

“I’m not sure if it has sunk in yet. I’m happy, but there’s nothing to be proud of. I was just in the right section at the right time.”

He said he would finish his three-week stint at the site.

The Arago cave at Tautavel, north of Perpignan, is one of the world’s most important prehistoric sites, and has been excavated for about 50 years.