Homo

The Plio-Pleistocene site of Dmanisi, Georgia, has yielded a rich fossil and archaeological record documenting an early presence of the genus Homo outside Africa. Although the craniomandibular morphology of early Homo is well known as a result of finds from Dmanisi and African localities, data about its postcranial morphology are still relatively scarce. Here we describe newly excavated postcranial material from Dmanisi comprising a partial skeleton of an adolescent individual, associated with skull D2700/D2735, and the remains from three adult individuals. This material shows that the postcranial anatomy of the Dmanisi hominins has a surprising mosaic of primitive and derived features. The primitive features include a small body size, a low encephalization quotient and absence of humeral torsion; the derived features include modern-human-like body proportions and lower limb morphology indicative of the capability for long-distance travel. Thus, the earliest known hominins to have lived outside of Africa in the temperate zones of Eurasia did not yet display the full set of derived skeletal features.

The Dmanisi hominins inhabited a northern temperate habitat in the southern Caucasus, approximately 1.8 million years ago. This is the oldest population of hominins known outside of Africa. Understanding the set of anatomical and behavioral traits that equipped this population to exploit their seasonal habitat successfully may shed light on the selection pressures shaping early members of the genus Homo and the ecological strategies that permitted the expansion of their range outside of the African subtropics. The abundant stone tools at the site, as well as taphonomic evidence for butchery, suggest that the Dmanisi hominins were active hunters or scavengers. In this study, we examine the locomotor mechanics of the Dmanisi hind limb to test the hypothesis that the inclusion of meat in the diet is associated with an increase in walking and running economy and endurance. Using comparative data from modern humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, as well as other fossil hominins, we show that the Dmanisi hind limb was functionally similar to modern humans, with a longitudinal plantar arch, increased limb length, and human-like ankle morphology. Other aspects of the foot, specifically metatarsal morphology and tibial torsion, are less derived and similar to earlier hominins. These results are consistent with hypotheses linking hunting and scavenging to improved walking and running performance in early Homo. Primitive retentions in the Dmanisi foot suggest that locomotor evolution continued through the early Pleistocene. (H. Pontzer).

Temporal bone morphology, as part of the basicranium, is commonly used in systematic evaluation of early hominid fossils. When an isolated right temporal bone, KNM-BC 1 (the Chemeron temporal) was discovered in the Baringo Basin, Kenya, Tobias (1967a, Nature 215, 476-480), citing ambiguity of characters, hesitated to place the specimen generically, attributing the fossil only to Hominidae gen. et sp. indet. Since that discovery, the early hominid sample has grown considerably and comparisons with this expanded dataset led Hill et al. (1992a, Nature 355, 719-722) to revise the placement of KNM-BC 1 including it within the genus Homo. This revision was possible due to the increased number of hominid fossil specimens from the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene, most notably members of the genus Homo. A thorough investigation into the utility of the temporal bone in hominid systematics shows that many features, as currently used in the literature, demonstrate high levels of variation thus questioning their phyletic valence. It is shown, however, that the temporal bone still contains useful systematic information. A detailed anatomical description of KNM-BC 1 is provided and, when discussed in the context of temporal bone features provided, affirms the conclusion of and places the fossil within the genus Homo.

The recognition of same-sex marriages in certain countries, together with the desire of same-sex couples to become parents, raises the question as to whether the state should allow it. Such a decision must take into account whether children are harmed from this type of family unit. The following study asks whether public opinion, which has generally opposed the possibility of such a family as harmful to the development of children, is in agreement with scientific data, which suggest that a family structure in which children are raised by parents who belong to the same sex does not in itself determine any negative irregularities in their socialization. In addition, this study will present a broad network of related concepts, within which the issue of same-sex parenthood is situated, so as to render as full as possible our understanding of the phenomenon.     

Η αναγνώριση των γάμων μεταξύ ομόφυλων σε κάποιες χώρες, αλλά και η επιθυμία ομόφυλων ζευγαριών να αποκτήσουν παιδιά, θέτουν το ερώτημα αν η πολιτεία οφείλει να το επιτρέψει. Μία τέτοια απόφαση πρέπει να λάβει υπόψη της το αν τα παιδιά βλάπτονται από αυτήν τη μορφή οικογένειας. Η εργασία ασχολείται με το κατά πόσο οι λαϊκές πεποιθήσεις, που κατά κανόνα απορρίπτουν αυτό το ενδεχόμενο ως επιβλαβές για την ανατροφή των παιδιών, συνάδουν με τα επιστημονικά δεδομένα, από τα οποία προκύπτει πως το να ανατρέφονται τα παιδιά από γονείς, που ανήκουν στο ίδιο βιολογικό φύλο, δεν προδιαγράφει από μόνο του πλημμέλειες στη διαπαιδαγώγησή τους. Παράλληλα, παρουσιάζεται ένα ολόκληρο πλέγμα σχετικών εννοιών, εντός του οποίου τοποθετείται το ζήτημα της ανατροφής παιδιών από ομόφυλα ζευγάρια, ώστε να καταστεί κατά το δυνατό πληρέστερη η κατανόηση του φαινομένου που εκτίθεται.

Dans la grotte de Mezmaiskaya située au Nord du Caucase, un squelette d'enfant a été mis au jour en 1993 et son état de conservation remarquable a permis une datation directe du fossile (29 195 ± 965 ans BP) et une analyse paléogénétique portant sur l'ADN mitochondrial (Golovanova et al., 1999 ; Ovchinnikov et al., 2000). L'interprétation paléogénétique est examinée dans le présent article à la lumière des données disponibles pour les hommes actuels (

The origin of the genus Homo in Africa signals the beginning of the shift from increasingly bipedal apes to primitive, large-brained, stone tool-making, meat-eaters that traveled far and wide. This early part of the human genus is represented by three species: Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, and Homo erectus. H. habilis is known for retaining primitive features that link it to australopiths and for being the first stone tool makers. Little is known about H. rudolfensis except that it had a relatively large brain and large teeth compared to H. habilis and that it overlapped in time and space with other early Homo. Our understanding of the paleobiology and evolution of the larger-brained H. erectus is enhanced due to its rich fossil record. H. erectus was the first obligate, fully committed biped, and with a body adapted for modern striding locomotion, it was also the first in the human lineage to disperse outside of Africa. The early members of the genus Homo are the first to tip the scale from the more apish side of our evolutionary history toward the more human one.

Tuberculosis is a re-emerging disease and is a major problem in both developing and developed countries today. An estimated one third of the world's population is infected and almost two million people die from the disease each year. Bone lesions occur in 3-5% of active tuberculosis cases and can be used to diagnose the disease in ancient skeletal remains. A meta-analysis was conducted on 531 palaeopathological tuberculosis cases from 221 sites (7250 BCE to 1899) on all continents for the purpose of testing two hypotheses;

Abstrak Secara teknis, syafaat sesungguhnya bukanlah doa. Doa syafaat adalah doa. Tetapi syafaat adalah sesuatu yang dilakukan seseorang dalam doa. Syafaat adalah berdoa berdasarkan apa yang telah Yesus lakukan, yaitu berdasarkan karya penebusan yang telah dilakukan Yesus Pendahuluan Dalam Rencana Total Allah, tidak ada suatu peristiwa yang terjadi diluar dari ketetapan Allah. Allah berdaulat penuh terhadap seluruh ciptaan-Nya dan Ia mengizinkan segala sesuatu terjadi di muka bumi sebagai bagian dari tindakan pemeliharaan-Nya. Rencana Allah terutama berkaitan dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh Allah sendiri yaitu mencipta, memelihara, memimpin dan menebus. Rencana Allah juga melibatkan kehendak dan tindakan manusia, namun hanya bersifat sekunder yaitu, sebagai sarana untuk mencapai apa yang telah direncanakan oleh Allah. Peranan Allah di sini ialah memutuskan agar hal-hal tertentu terjadi dalam kehidupan manusia dan bukan memberikan perintah untuk bertindak dengan cara tertentu. Apa yang Allah putuskan untuk terjadi memang memerlukan unsur keharusan. Tetapi fakta-fakta dari rencana Allah sebaiknya tidak dianggap sebagai perintah, tapi lebih sebagai uraian tentang apa yang akan terjadi. Rencana Allah tidak memaksa manusia untuk bertindak dengan cara tertentu, tapi membuat manusia pasti secara bebas bertindak menurut cara-cara itu. Jadi, walaupun Rencana Total Allah itu berkaitan terutama dengan dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh Allah, tindakan-tindakan manusia juga tercakup di dalamnya. Rencana dan tindakan manusia akan menghasilkan penggenapan maksud Allah (Amsal 16:1 ; 19:21). Tindakan manusia ini sebagai sarana, dalam hal ini sebagai wakil dan pengantara yang "menghadirkan" uraian rencana Allah. Nyata dari Alkitab bahwa Allah dalam banyak hal Allah bekerja dalam semacam kemitraan dengan manusia. Allah tidak bertindak bila manusia tidak memainkan peranannya. Peranan manusia dalam hal ini adalah Syafaat (tindakan dalam doa). Doa bukanlah memaksakan Allah melakukan kehendak manusia, tetapi suatu sikap melalui mana manusia ingin agar kehendak Allah terjadi. Oleh sebab itu, Penulis akan membahas mengenai konsep syafaat ini dalam sebuah karya ilmiah yang diberi judul "Konsep Syafaat Dalam Rencana Total Allah." Batasan Penulisan Berbicara mengenai konsep syafaat dalam Rencana Total Allah adalah hal yang sangat luas. Dalam tulisan ini, Penulis akan membahas konsep syafaat dalam konteks penciptaan manusia, kejatuhan manusia dan karya penebusan Yesus Kristus.

By c. 2050 BC a small community of C-Group Nubians was present deep within Egyptian territory at the city of Hierakonpolis. Their descendants stayed for the next 400 years. Today, the site of Hierakonpolis, 113 km north of Aswan, is known for its Egyptian deposits; however, it also contains a C-Group cemetery, which documents the northernmost occurrence of this culture. Sixty skeletons were excavated. Tombs feature Nubian architecture and goods, including leather garments, although the use of Egyptian mortuary practices and artifacts increased through time. Dates range from the early 11th Dynasty into the Second Intermediate period. During this time the Egyptian empire occupied Lower Nubia, and their state ideology vilified Nubians. Yet, at least in death, the C-Group inhabitants of Hierakonpolis proudly displayed their cultural heritage.

This review begins by setting out the context and the scope of human evolution. Several classes of evidence, morphological, molecular, and genetic, support a particularly close relationship between modern humans and the species within the genus Pan, the chimpanzee. Thus human evolution is the study of the lineage, or clade, comprising species more closely related to modern humans than to chimpanzees. Its stem species is the so-called ' common hominin ancestor ', and its only extant member is Homo sapiens. This clade contains all the species more closely-related to modern humans than to any other living primate. Until recently, these species were all subsumed into a family, Hominidae, but this group is now more usually recognised as a tribe, the Hominini. The rest of the review sets out the formal nomenclature, history of discovery, and information about the characteristic morphology, and its behavioural implications, of the species presently included in the human clade. The taxa are considered within their assigned genera, beginning with the most primitive and finishing with Homo. Within genera, species are presented in order of geological age. The entries conclude with a list of the more important items of fossil evidence, and a summary of relevant taxonomic issues.

Coordination polymers (CPs) are emerging as the next generation of macromolecules for many industrial and technological applications. The highly porous nature of these CPs offers the opportunity to exploit them as very effective adsorbents for gaseous molecules, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Release of VOCs into the environment is highly undesirable as they can be extremely harmful to general public health and environmental quality. Lately, a large volume of the scientific literature has pointed toward the potentially important role of CPs in the monitoring and analysis of VOCs, offering unprecedented detection limits. This review discusses the opportunities and challenges for the use of CP materials in such applications, describing their general working principles, analytical performance, advantages, and limitations. Recent progress in the application of CPs in the detection, monitoring, and analysis of VOCs is critically reviewed. The discussion is further extended to cover future applications and current research activities in this emerging analytical field.

We report here on the results of a new cladistic analysis of early hominid relationships. Ingroup taxa included Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus aethiopicus, Australopithecus robustus, Australopithecus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis, Homo ergaster and Homo sapiens. Outgroup taxa included Pan troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla. Sixty craniodental characters were selected for analysis. These were drawn from the trait lists of other studies and our own observations. Eight parsimony analyses were performed that differed with respect to the number of characters examined and the manner in which the characters were treated. Seven employed ordered characters, and included analyses in which (1) taxa that were variable with respect to a character were coded as having an intermediate state, (2) characters with variable states in any taxon were excluded; (3) a variable taxon was coded as having the state exhibited by the majority of its hypodigm, (4) variable taxa were coded as missing data for that character, (5) some characters were considered irreversible, (6) masticatory characters were excluded, and (7) characters whose states were unknown in some taxa were excluded. In the final analysis, (8) all characters were unordered. All analyses were performed using PAUP 3.0s. Despite the fact that the eight analyses differed with respect to methodology, they produced several consistent results. All agreed that the ''robust'' australopithecines form a clade, A. afarensis is the sister taxon of all other hominids, and the genus Australopithecus, as conventionally defined, is paraphyletic. All eight also supported trees in which A. africanus is the sister taxon of a joint Homo+ ''robust'' clade, although in one analysis an equally parsimonious topology found A. africanus to be the sister of the ''robust'' species. In most analyses, the relationships of A. africanus and H. habilis were unstable, in the sense that their positions vary in trees that are marginally less parsimonious than the favored one. Trees in which ''robust'' australopithecines are paraphyletic were found to be extremely unparsimonious.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of counting incremental lines of dental root cementum for biological age determination, and to compare it with alternative methods. Two samples were taken: 51 teeth from 49 individuals of known age obtained at the Stomatological Clinic, Vilnius University, as well as the canine teeth from the remains of 48 individuals from the mass graves of Tuskul ėnai in Vilnius (inhumed 1944–47). In the latter sample, the chronological age of 43 individuals was known through personal identification. Undecalcified teeth were sectioned with the Leica SP 1600 microtome diamond saw, and incremental line count as a blind test was made on sections of 35 to 100 μm thickness. Incremental line count was possible in 82–86 percent of cases. The results of three independent counts showed that intra-observer bias has no significant impact. Biological age was estimated by adding incremental line number to the average age of tooth eruption. It was found that mean absolute error was 6.46 years for the 1st sample, 6.27 years for the 2nd sample, and in some cases exceeded 10 years. For the 2nd sample, the results were compared to those of other methods such as endocranial suture ossification, pubic symphysis morphology and the «combined» method of Nemeskéri. All four methods yield a similar correlation in regard to an individual's chronological age. The highest correlation was found for the combined method, and the lowest one for pubic symphysis morphology. All correlations had a similar standard error. Thus our assessment is less enthusiastic than in some past studies; it is suggested that the incremental lines rather have a similar use as other methods.

Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical paleodietary tools based on stable isotope and trace element archives within fossil calcified tissues.

Culture and the Evolutionary Process. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Boyd R, Richerson PJ (1993) Culture and Human Evolution. In: Rasmussen DT (ed) The Origin and Evolution of Humans and Humanness. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, pp. 119-134. Boyd R, Richerson PJ (eds) (2005) The origin and evolution of cultures. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Brantingham PJ, Olsen JW, Rech JA, Krivoshapkin IA (2000) Raw material quality and prepared core technologies in Northeast Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science 27(3):255-271. Braun DR, Harris J, Maina D (2008a) Oldowan raw material procurement and use: Evidence from the Koobi Fora Formation. Archaeometry 51(1):26-42. Braun DR, Harris JWK (2003) Technological developments in the Oldowan of Koobi Fora: Innovative techniques of artifact analysis. In: Moreno JM, Torcal RM, Sainz IT (eds) Oldowan: Rather more than smashing stones. University of Barcelona Press, Barcelona, pp. 117-144. Braun DR, Harris JWK, Levin NE, McCoy JT, Herries AIR, Bamford MK, Bishop LC, Richmond BG, Kibunjia M (2010) Early hominin diet included diverse terrestrial and aquatic animals 1.95 Ma in East Turkana, Kenya. A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia. Nature 431(7012):1055-1061. Carvalho S, Biro D, McGrew WC, Matsuzawa T (2009) Tool-composite reuse in wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): archaeologically invisible steps in the technological evolution of early hominins? Animal Cognition 12:103-114. Carvalho S, Cunha E, Sousa C, Matsuzawa T (2008) Chaînes opératoires and resource-exploitation strategies in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) nut cracking. Journal of Human Evolution 55(1):148-163. Cavalli-Sforza LL, Feldman MW (1981) Cultural transmission and evolution: A quantitative approach. Princeton University Press. de Heinzelin J, Clark JD, White TD, Hart WS, Renne PR, Woldegabriel G, Beyene Y, Vrba ES (1999) Environment and behavior of 2.5-million-year-old Bouri hominids. Science 284(5414):625-629. Trim: 6in × 9in Top: 0.5in Gutter: 0.875in CUUS1562-08 cuus1562/Domínguez-Rodrigo

The observation that absolute brain size increased over the past 2 million years is one of the few uncontested facts of hominid evolution. There is, however, less agreement about how the size of the brain evolved relative to that of the body. Relative brain size has proven to be difficult to quantify because fossil hominid crania that offer the endocranial measurements, and postcrania that generally provide the body-mass estimates, can only rarely be attributed to the same individual. If it could be established that some aspect of the cranium is strongly correlated with body mass, then relative brain size could be calculated for each fossil hominid cranium that has a measured endocranial volume. This paper investigates one such cranial feature, the area of the orbital aperture, and its correlation with body mass in a large sample of extant primates. The results demonstrate that orbital area is correlated with body mass at r=0·987. Predictions of body mass on the basis of orbital area measured for fossil hominids suggest that body mass in Homo increased through time, and that body mass sexual dimorphism was possibly somewhat greater for some fossil hominid species than it is in living humans. Combining these body mass estimates with measures of endocranial volume demonstrates increased relative brain size for both Australopithecus and archaic Homo, with the values for Australopithecus exceeding those of the living hominoids, and archaic Homo exceeding those of Australopithecus. The step-like differences among these taxa stand in contrast to the observation that there appears to have been no or only a negligible increase in relative brain size through the subsequent nearly 2 million years of evolution in the genus Homo. The most dramatic changes occur with the appearance of modern Homo sapiens at about 100,000 years ago and include a decrease in body mass and an increase in relative brain size that appears to have been driven by selection for smaller body mass.

Late Pleistocene is one of the important periods within the prehistoric chronology of the Archipelago. Chronologically it occupied the period between the oldest one, characterized by Paleolithic culture, and the Early Holocene, characterized by Preneolithic culture. Referring to the evidences found so far, this period covers the time around 45000 BP to Early Holocene or around 11800 BP. Different phenomena have colored this period. Natural phenomenon was marked by climate and sea level fluctuations, which brought changes to paleogeography and paleoenvironment. The second phenomenon was related to the appearance of early modern human (the oldest Homo sapiens) replacing the early human, Homo erectus. The emergence of Homo sapiens brought cultural phenomenon, such as (1) the exploration of wider geographical area within the archipelago, even to the other parts of Southeast Asia, western Melanesia, and Australia, (2) the change of activity orientation from open air to natural niches, such as caves and rock shelters, and the development in technology and subsistence. To cite this article: T. Simanjuntak, C. R. Palevol 5 (2006). © 2005 Published by Elsevier SAS on behalf of Académie des sciences.

…adaptation to bipedal locomotion decreased the size of the bony birth-canal at the same time that the exigencies of tool use selected for larger brains. This obstetrical dilemma was solved by delivery of the fetus at a much earlier stage of development. (Washburn1)…there can be no doubt that many of the obstetrical problems of Mrs. H. Sapiens are due to the combination of a narrower pelvis and a bigger head in the species. (Krogman2)

Israel is part of a geographical 'out of Africa' corridor for human dispersals. An important event in these dispersals was the possible arrival of anatomically modern humans in the Levant during the late Middle Pleistocene 1-3 . In the Levant the Lower Palaeolithic ends with the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex, characterized by technological developments 4,5 , including the introduction of technological innovations such as the systematic production of blades and the disappearance of hand-axes. These reflect new human perceptions and capabilities in lithic technology and tool function 6 . Qesem Cave, discovered in 2000, has a rich, well-preserved Acheulo-Yabrudian deposit holding great promise for providing new insights into the period. Here we report the dates of this deposit obtained by uranium isotopic series on associated speleothems and their implications. The results shed light on the temporal range of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and the end of the Lower Palaeolithic, suggesting a long cultural phase between the Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian and the Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian phases, starting before 382 kyr ago and ending at about 200 kyr ago.

Although Washburn described it as as a “dilemma” and Krogman called it a “scar of human evolution,” both authors recognized that the unique way that humans give birth is the re-sult of a set of constraints imposed by several exclusively human attributes: bipedalism, a ...

Previous research by the first author revealed that, relative to other modern peoples, sub-Saharan Africans exhibit the highest frequencies of ancestral (or plesiomorphic) dental traits and, thus, appear to be least derived dentally from an ancestral hominin state. This determination, in conjunction with various other lines of dental morphological evidence, was interpreted to be supportive of an African origin for modern humans. The present investigation expands upon this work by using: 1) direct observations of fossil hominin teeth, rather than data gleaned from published sources, 2) a single morphological scoring system (the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System) with consistent trait breakpoints, and 3) data from larger and more varied modern human comparative samples. As before, a multivariate distance statistic, the mean measure of divergence, was used to assess diachronic phenetic affinities among the Plio-Pleistocene hominins and modern humans. The present study also employed principal components analysis on dental trait frequencies across samples. Both methods yielded similar results, which support the previous findings; that is, of all modern human samples, sub-Saharan Africans again exhibit the closest phenetic similarity to various African Plio-Pleistocene hominins—through their shared prevalence of morphologically complex crown and root traits. The fact that sub-Saharan Africans express these apparently plesiomorphic characters, along with additional information on their affinity to other modern populations, evident intra-population heterogeneity, and a world-wide dental cline emanating from the sub-continent, provides further evidence that is consistent with an African origin model.

Neandertals were effective hunters of large ungulates throughout their geographic and temporal ranges. Equipped with this knowledge, researchers in paleoanthropology continue to seek insight on the relationships between hunting and subsistence strategies with other components of the Neandertals' niche, such as mobility, site use, and lithic technology. The Quina Mousterian deposits from the rockshelter site of Chez Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France; hereafter Jonzac) offer an excellent opportunity to pursue these issues. This paper focuses on the extensive and well-preserved skeletal remains of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) recovered from recent excavations of the site, representing at least 18 individuals that were hunted by Neandertals during the fall through winter. Our zooarchaeological results indicate that all ages of reindeer were hunted but adult individuals predominate. No bias is evident in the comparable frequencies of males and females. These prey were butchered on-site, with abundant evidence of meat filleting and marrow exploitation. In the excavated sample, the absence of hearths and the almost complete lack of burned bones or stones suggest that Neandertals were not using fire to assist with processing the reindeer carcasses. The zooarchaeological results presented here indicate that reindeer were hunted during a restricted window of time when they were seasonally abundant in the local area near Jonzac. Taken together with the lithic industry based on bifacial elements, the evidence is consistent with a pattern of site use by highly mobile hunter-gatherers making frequent, short-term visits. Ongoing research at Jonzac and other Quina Mousterian localities will contribute to a better understanding of Neandertal behavior during cold climate phases.

The proposed new hominid ''Homo floresiensis'' is based on specimens from cave deposits on the Indonesian island Flores. The primary evidence, dated at $ 18,000 y, is a skull and partial skeleton of a very small but dentally adult individual (LB1). Incomplete specimens are attributed to eight additional individuals. Stone tools at the site are also attributed to H. floresiensis. The discoverers interpreted H. floresiensis as an insular dwarf derived from Homo erectus, but others see LB1 as a small-bodied microcephalic Homo sapiens. Study of virtual endocasts, including LB1 and a European microcephalic, purportedly excluded microcephaly, but reconsideration reveals several problems. The cranial capacity of LB1 ($ 400 cc) is smaller than in any other known hominid < 3.5 Ma and is far too small to derive from Homo erectus by normal dwarfing. By contrast, some associated tools were generated with a prepared-core technique previously unknown for H. erectus, including bladelets otherwise associated exclusively with H. sapiens. The single European microcephalic skull used in comparing virtual endocasts was particularly unsuitable. The specimen was a cast, not the original skull (traced to Stuttgart), from a 10-year-old child with massive pathology. Moreover, the calotte does not fit well with the rest of the cast, probably being a later addition of unknown history. Consideration of various forms of human microcephaly and of two adult specimens indicates that LB1 could well be a microcephalic Homo sapiens. This is the most likely explanation for the incongruous association of a small-brained recent hominid with advanced stone tools.

Despite a rich African Plio-Pleistocene hominin fossil record, the ancestry of Homo and its relation to earlier australopithecines remain unresolved. Here we report on two partial skeletons with an age of 1.95 to 1.78 million years. The fossils were encased in cave deposits at the Malapa site in South Africa. The skeletons were found close together and are directly associated with craniodental remains. Together they represent a new species of Australopithecus that is probably descended from Australopithecus africanus. Combined craniodental and postcranial evidence demonstrates that this new species shares more derived features with early Homo than any other australopith species and thus might help reveal the ancestor of that genus.

By c. 2050 BC a small community of C-Group Nubians was present deep within Egyptian territory at the city of Hierakonpolis. Their descendants stayed for the next 400 years. Today, the site of Hierakonpolis, 113 km north of Aswan, is known for its Egyptian deposits; however, it also contains a C-Group cemetery, which documents the northernmost occurrence of this culture. Sixty skeletons were excavated. Tombs feature Nubian architecture and goods, including leather garments, although the use of Egyptian mortuary practices and artifacts increased through time. Dates range from the early 11th Dynasty into the Second Intermediate period. During this time the Egyptian empire occupied Lower Nubia, and their state ideology vilified Nubians. Yet, at least in death, the C-Group inhabitants of Hierakonpolis proudly displayed their cultural heritage.Beyond discerning the reason(s) for their presence at the site (e.g., mercenaries, leather-workers, entertainers?), the focus of this report is to estimate their biological affinity. Were they akin to other Nubians, Egyptians, or both? And, was increasing ‘Egyptianization’ evident in the mortuary ritual accompanied by concomitant genetic influence? To address these queries, up to 36 dental morphological traits in the recovered individuals were compared to those in 26 regional comparative samples. The most influential traits were identified and phenetic affinities were calculated using the mean measure of divergence and other multivariate analyses. Assuming phenetic similarity provides an estimate of genetic relatedness, these affinities suggest the individuals comprising the C-Group sample were, and remained Nubian during their tenure at Hierakonpolis.

The primary aim of this study was to conduct a taxonomic assessment of the second of three isolated human teeth found in the Stajnia Cave (north of the Carpathians, Poland) in 2008. The specimen was located near a human tooth (S5000), which was identified by Urbanowski et al. (2010) as a Neanderthal permanent upper molar. Both of these teeth were excavated from the D2 layer, which belongs to the D stratigraphic complex comprising the archaeological assemblage associated with the Micoquian tradition. An Ursus spelaeus bone and Mammuthus primigenius tooth that were also excavated from the D2 layer were dated to >49,000 years BP (by AMS 14 C) and 52.9 ka BP (by U-Th), respectively. The sediment overlying stratigraphic complex D was dated to 45.9 ka BP by the OSL method. The S4300 tooth is a lower first or second permanent molar belonging to an individual other than that who once possessed the S5000 tooth. The S4300 tooth exhibits a combination of traits typical of Neanderthal lower molars, including a mid-trigonid crest, large anterior fovea, taurodontism and subvertical grooves on the interproximal face, indicating that this tooth belonged to a Neanderthal individual. The S4300 tooth from Stajnia Cave is one of the oldest human remains found in Poland.

The discovery of mitochondrial type N1a in Central European Neolithic skeletons at a high frequency enabled us to answer the question of whether the modern population is maternally descended from the early farmers instead of addressing the traditional question of the origin of early European farmers.

Among the poor fossil record of Southeast Asian Upper Pleistocene Homo sapiens, the Tabon human remains are frequently cited in the literature despite very scarce published palaeoanthropological data. A recent Filipino-French joint work confirmed the significance of the discoveries made in the 1960s: a frontal bone and two mandibular fragments that have been recently described and dated . Simultaneously, the archaeological potential of the Tabon site has been re-assessed and fieldwork organized by the National Museum of the Philippines yielded another eleven human remains. Palaeoanthropological description and new dating of the human fossils from Tabon cave are proposed and discussed. Some of the new dates obtained confirm the ca. 16 500 BP age of the frontal bone [9], but older ages have been obtained for other human fossils. The palaeoanthropological evidence suggests that all remains pertain to modern Homo sapiens. However, their high morphological variability is discussed in the frame of early Homo sapiens settlements in insular Southeast Asia. To cite this article: F. Detroit et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).

Previous research by the first author revealed that, relative to other modern peoples, sub-Saharan Africans exhibit the highest frequencies of ancestral (or plesiomorphic) dental traits and, thus, appear to be least derived dentally from an ancestral hominin state. This determination, in conjunction with various other lines of dental morphological evidence, was interpreted to be supportive of an African origin for modern humans. The present investigation expands upon this work by using: 1) direct observations of fossil hominin teeth, rather than data gleaned from published sources, 2) a single morphological scoring system (the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System) with consistent trait breakpoints, and 3) data from larger and more varied modern human comparative samples. As before, a multivariate distance statistic, the mean measure of divergence, was used to assess diachronic phenetic affinities among the Plio-Pleistocene hominins and modern humans. The present study...

P e z n m e &pemsa je zspab e ospacjnx ocoda spebhnx fofyjaunja #ecto nctpa|nbaho, zspabctbeho cta e asojecuehata (kao focedhe lpyfaunje) y tnm fofyjaunjama je yljabhom zahemapnbaho. Tyma#e e zspab a asojecuehata sosatho komfjnkyje #n ehnua sa foctojn hekohznctehthoct y se~nhnca y n hesocjeshoct y fpnmehn ctapochnx katelopnja y ahtpofojovkoj jntepatypn. Y oboj ctysnjn, ahajnznpajn cmo zhake fatojovknx cta a ha ckejethnm octaunma 81-ol asojecuehta nz cpes obekobhe hekpofoje Ctapa Topnha (y cebephoj Cpdnjn). Y fajeofatojovkoj snjalhoctnun kopnv ehe cy makpockofcka ofcepbaunja, snlntajha pasnolpa~nja n xnctojovka ahajnza kovtahnx nce#aka. Haj#ev n yo#ehn tpalobn dojectn ha koctnma cy dnjn zhaun ahemnje (cribra orbitalia n spyle fopotn#he jeznje), kao n zhaun hecfeun~n#hnx kovtahnx nh~ekunja. Hacyfpot tome, tpalobn kovtahe tpayme cy fpncythn y bpjo majom fpouehty. Y ncfntnbahoj fofyjaunjn, yo#eha cy n sba cta a koja ce petko cpe y y fajeofatojovkom kohtekcty: acnmetpnja joda e n kn#mehnx fpv ehoba koja oslobapa kohlehntajhom mnvn hom toptnkojncy, kao n~ndpozhn koptnkajhn se~ekt ha snctajhom okpajky~emypa. &opђe e ca soctyfhnm fosaunma o spylnm cpes obekobhnm fofyjaunjama asojecuehata y Cpdnjn fokazajo je sa je zactyf ehoct asojecuehata y uejokyfhom yzopky cjn#ha, sok y Ctapoj Topnhn nma zhatho bnve tpaloba kovtahnx odo e a. Osjnke zafa|ehnx fatojovknx zhakoba ha ckejety, fotkpef ehe soctyfhnm nctopnjcknm nzbopnma, ykazyjy sa cy nh~ektnbhe dojectn fpesctab aje k y#hn zspabctbehn fpodjem asojecuehata y cpes em beky.

Dietary ecology is one key to understanding the biology, lifeways, and evolutionary pathways of many animals. Determining the diets of long-extinct hominins, however, is a considerable challenge. Although archaeological evidence forms a pillar of our understanding of diet and subsistence in the more recent past, for early hominins, the most direct evidence is to be found in the fossils themselves. Here we review the suite of emerging biochemical paleodietary tools based on stable isotope and trace element archives within fossil calcified tissues.

The Plio-Pleistocene site of Dmanisi, Georgia, has yielded a rich fossil and archaeological record documenting an early presence of the genus Homo outside Africa. Although the craniomandibular morphology of early Homo is well known as a result of finds from Dmanisi and African localities, data about its postcranial morphology are still relatively scarce. Here we describe newly excavated postcranial material from Dmanisi comprising a partial skeleton of an adolescent individual, associated with skull D2700/D2735, and the remains from three adult individuals. This material shows that the postcranial anatomy of the Dmanisi hominins has a surprising mosaic of primitive and derived features. The primitive features include a small body size, a low encephalization quotient and absence of humeral torsion; the derived features include modern-human-like body proportions and lower limb morphology indicative of the capability for long-distance travel. Thus, the earliest known hominins to have lived outside of Africa in the temperate zones of Eurasia did not yet display the full set of derived skeletal features.