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Pantoja-Pérez A, Arsuaga JL. The Cranium I: Neurocranium. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38454744 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
The Sima de los Huesos (SH) site has provided a significant collection of hominin remains, including numerous cranial fragments, which have contributed to our understanding of the MP human population. The taxonomic classification of the SH hominins remains a topic of debate, with some studies suggesting a close relationship to Neandertals based on nuclear DNA analysis. The cranial morphology of the SH specimens exhibits a mix of Neandertal-like features and primitive traits observed in earlier Homo populations, providing insights into the evolutionary pattern of the Neanderthal lineage. This study focuses on the neurocranial traits of the SH population and describes three previously undescribed cranial individuals. The SH cranial collection now comprises 20 nearly complete crania, representing approximately two-thirds of the estimated population size. The analysis of the SH population reveals variations in robustness, frontal torus development, sagittal keeling, and occipital torus morphology, which may be related to sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic factors. The suprainiac region exhibits notable ontogenetic changes, while suture obliteration patterns do not strictly correlate with dental age. Metric measurements, particularly cranial breadths, highlight significant intrapopulation variation within the SH sample. Compared with other Middle Pleistocene (MP) hominins, the SH cranial vault displays archaic characteristics but differs from Homo erectus and Neandertals. The SH individuals have relatively short and tall cranial vaults, distinguishing them from other MP fossils. These findings contribute to our understanding of the MP human populations and their evolutionary trajectories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Pantoja-Pérez
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre Evolución Humana-CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Compton T, Skinner MM, Humphrey L, Pope M, Bates M, Davies TW, Parfitt SA, Plummer WP, Scott B, Shaw A, Stringer C. The morphology of the Late Pleistocene hominin remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands). J Hum Evol 2021; 152:102939. [PMID: 33517134 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102939] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 12/13/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Thirteen permanent fully erupted teeth were excavated at the Paleolithic site of La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey in 1910 and 1911. These were all found in the same location, on a ledge behind a hearth in a Mousterian occupation level. They were originally identified as being Neanderthal. A fragment of occipital bone was found in a separate locality in a later season. Recent dating of adjacent sediments gives a probable age of <48 ka. The purpose of this article is to provide an updated description of the morphology of this material and consider its likely taxonomic assignment from comparison with Neanderthal and Homo sapiens samples. One of the original teeth has been lost, and we identify one as nonhominin. At least two adult individuals are represented. Cervix shape and the absence of common Neanderthal traits in several teeth suggest affinities with H. sapiens in both individuals, while crown and root dimensions and root morphology of all the teeth are entirely consistent with a Neanderthal attribution, pointing toward a possible shared Neanderthal and H. sapiens ancestry (the likely date of this material corresponds with the time in which both Neanderthals and H. sapiens were present in Europe). The occipital fragment is stratigraphically more recent and does not exhibit any diagnostic Neanderthal features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Compton
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Louise Humphrey
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Matthew Pope
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - Martin Bates
- Faculty of Humanities and Performing Arts, University of Wales Trinity St David, Lampeter, Ceredigion, SA48 7ED, UK
| | - Thomas W Davies
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simon A Parfitt
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK; UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - William P Plummer
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Beccy Scott
- The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG, UK
| | - Andrew Shaw
- Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 6EB, UK
| | - Chris Stringer
- Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
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Garralda M, Maíllo‐Fernández J, Higham T, Neira A, Bernaldo de Quirós F. The Gravettian child mandible from El Castillo Cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 170:331-350. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23906] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2018] [Revised: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- María‐Dolores Garralda
- Dpto. de Biodiversidad, Ecología y Evolución. Facultad de CC. BiológicasUniversidad Complutense de Madrid Madrid Spain
| | | | - Thomas Higham
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of ArtUniversity of Oxford Oxford UK
- Keble CollegeUniversity of Oxford Oxford UK
| | - Ana Neira
- Área de PrehistoriaUniversidad de León León Spain
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Cabestrero-Rincón MA, Balzeau A, Lorenzo C. Differential evolution of cerebral and cerebellar fossae in recent Homo: A new methodological approach. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2018; 69:289-303. [PMID: 30463675 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2018.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The endocranium shows the influence of the shape and development of brain tissues and overall brain modifications. During the late Upper Pleistocene and Holocene smaller brains appeared and the higher position of endinion relative to inion might indicate changes in cerebellar and occipital lobes. In previous studies, the depths of the cerebral and cerebellar fossae were not specifically considered; new tools for quantitatively measuring these irregular, problematic curved areas need to be developed. This paper's main objective is to investigate to what degree changes in the fossae's depths of extant humans have occurred with respect to fossil anatomically modern humans (AMH) and older Homo species. The proportions of the occipital and nuchal planes are compared measuring the inner and outer surfaces of the bone. Additionally, this paper proposes a quantitative geometric methodology based on endocranial landmarks that create a plane with which to measure the position of the deepest part of the fossa: it represents a curvature maxima - concavity - associated with local structures. The four points thus obtained could be framed in Bookstein's Type II landmarks but without biomechanical implication. Through univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses (principal components analysis) of raw and size-corrected data we study the differential evolution in recent Homo species, which presents a more vertical occipital area than ancient fossils. Our results corroborate this derived trait; additionally, we have observed a tendency towards a relative decrease in the depth of the cerebral fossae and maintenance of the cerebellar fossae.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Cabestrero-Rincón
- Castell de Bellver-Museu d'Història de la Ciutat, c/Camilo José Cela, s/n. 07014 Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Fac. Lletres, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Catalunya, 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain.
| | - A Balzeau
- Département Hommes et environnement, UMR 7194 du CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Musée de l'Homme, 17, place du Trocadéro, F-75016 Paris, France
| | - C Lorenzo
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Fac. Lletres, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Catalunya, 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Carrer Marcel·lí Domingo s/n - Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
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Quam R, Sanz M, Daura J, Robson Brown K, García-González R, Rodríguez L, Dawson H, Rodríguez RF, Gómez S, Villaescusa L, Rubio Á, Yagüe A, Ortega Martínez MC, Fullola JM, Zilhão J, Arsuaga JL. The Neandertals of northeastern Iberia: New remains from the Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona). J Hum Evol 2015; 81:13-28. [PMID: 25766902 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2014] [Revised: 10/22/2014] [Accepted: 02/05/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rolf Quam
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA; Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, NY 10024-5192, USA.
| | - Montserrat Sanz
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Daura
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Kate Robson Brown
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
| | - Rebeca García-González
- Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Facultad de Humanidades y Educación, 09001 Burgos, Spain
| | - Laura Rodríguez
- Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Facultad de Humanidades y Educación, 09001 Burgos, Spain; Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca s/n, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - Heidi Dawson
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol, 43 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
| | - Rosa Flor Rodríguez
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sandra Gómez
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucía Villaescusa
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ángel Rubio
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain; Laboratorio de Antropología, Depto de Medicina Legal, Toxicología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, Av de Madrid, 11, 18012 Granada, Spain
| | - Almudena Yagüe
- Grup de Recerca del Quaternari-Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - María Cruz Ortega Martínez
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Josep Maria Fullola
- Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| | - João Zilhão
- Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques, Dept. Prehistòria, H. Antiga i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys, 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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6
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Soler J, Soler N, Agustí B, Bolus M. The Gravettian calvaria from Mollet III cave (Serinyà, Northeastern Iberian Peninsula). J Hum Evol 2013; 65:322-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2010] [Revised: 03/18/2013] [Accepted: 03/30/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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7
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Abstract
Uncertainties surround the timing of modern human emergence and occupation in East and Southeast Asia. Although genetic and archeological data indicate a rapid migration out of Africa and into Southeast Asia by at least 60 ka, mainland Southeast Asia is notable for its absence of fossil evidence for early modern human occupation. Here we report on a modern human cranium from Tam Pa Ling, Laos, which was recovered from a secure stratigraphic context. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating of the surrounding sediments provide a minimum age of 51-46 ka, and direct U-dating of the bone indicates a maximum age of ~63 ka. The cranium has a derived modern human morphology in features of the frontal, occipital, maxillae, and dentition. It is also differentiated from western Eurasian archaic humans in aspects of its temporal, occipital, and dental morphology. In the context of an increasingly documented archaic-modern morphological mosaic among the earliest modern humans in western Eurasia, Tam Pa Ling establishes a definitively modern population in Southeast Asia at ~50 ka cal BP. As such, it provides the earliest skeletal evidence for fully modern humans in mainland Southeast Asia.
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Arsuaga JL, Fernández Peris J, Gracia-Téllez A, Quam R, Carretero JM, Barciela González V, Blasco R, Cuartero F, Sañudo P. Fossil human remains from Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). J Hum Evol 2012; 62:629-39. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2011] [Revised: 10/27/2011] [Accepted: 02/24/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Arsuaga JL, Villaverde V, Quam R, Martínez I, Carretero JM, Lorenzo C, Gracia A. New Neandertal remains from Cova Negra (Valencia, Spain). J Hum Evol 2007; 52:31-58. [PMID: 16979220 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2005] [Revised: 04/07/2006] [Accepted: 07/20/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
New Neandertal fossils from the Mousterian site of Cova Negra in the Valencia region of Spain are described, and a comprehensive study of the entire human fossil sample is provided. The new specimens significantly augment the sample of human remains from this site and make Cova Negra one of the richest human paleontological sites on the Iberian Peninsula. The new specimens include cranial and postcranial elements from immature individuals and provide an opportunity to study the ontogenetic appearance of adult Neandertal characteristics in this Pleistocene population. Children younger than 10 years of age constitute four of the seven minimum number of individuals in the sample, and this relative abundance of children at Cova Negra is similar that in to other Neandertal sites in Europe and southwest Asia. The recognition of diagnostic Neandertal features in several of the specimens, as well as their western European context and late Pleistocene age, suggests that all the human remains from Cova Negra represent Neandertals. The archaeological evidence from Cova Negra indicates sporadic, short-term occupations of the site, suggesting a high degree of mobility among Neandertals.
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Affiliation(s)
- J L Arsuaga
- Centro de Investigación (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, c/Sinesio, Delgado, 4, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
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