Nestled in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind, the Drimolen paleocave is an amphitheater hosting the remains of ancient ancestors of humans. Most famous among the hominins found there are Orpheus and Eurydice, a pair of Paranthropus robustus unearthed in 1994 and named after the lovers from Greek mythology. They are just two of more than 160 fossilized specimens of our extinct early relatives dug up at the roofless cave.

Now, archaeologists excavating the site have discovered even more remains that could transform our understanding of when and where our human ancestors and their relatives lived millions of years ago in this part of Africa.

In Science on Thursday, they published a paper identifying the skullcap and teeth of another Paranthropus robustus, as well as the cranium of our direct ancestor, Homo erectus. Both specimens date to between 1.95 and 2.04 million years ago. If confirmed, the findings would be the oldest known Paranthropus robustus, as well as the oldest known Homo erectus, nudging out the next oldest known specimen by 150,000 to 200,000 years.

The discoveries offer evidence that Homo erectus trekked from the bottom of South Africa, across the African continent and into the Caucasus region within only a couple of hundreds of thousands of years.