What is the earliest date for any kind of hominid remains found in Europe?
How does that compare with the earliest dates for hominid remains in the Middle East and Asia?
Are there any distinct hominid species that cannot be traced back to Africa?
The earliest hominid remains in western Europe were found in Spain and dated to 1.2 million years ago -- known as homo antecestor.
zeestephen: "How does that compare with the earliest dates for hominid remains in the Middle East and Asia?"
The oldest hominid found outside Africa is a form of homo erectus 1.8 million years old, found in the Republic of Georgia.
zeestephen: "Are there any distinct hominid species that cannot be traced back to Africa?"
No, though some have attempted to interpret the data to suggest separate evolutions in other locations, such as Asia.
The current explanation suggests wave after wave of pre-human "latest models" migrating out of Africa, adapting, evolving, sometimes interbreeding with previous "models", more often exterminating them.
The most recent migrations out of Africa, of our biologically "fully human" ancestors, began circa 50,000 years ago, resulting in extinction-or-merging of all previous pre-human populations.