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An adolescent female Neanderthal mandible from Montgaudier Cave, Charente, France
Author(s) -
Mann Alan,
Vandermeersch Bernard
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199708)103:4<507::aid-ajpa8>3.0.co;2-j
Subject(s) - neanderthal , mandible (arthropod mouthpart) , cave , geography , archaeology , biology , zoology , genus
In 1974, an incomplete human mandible was discovered in the site of Montgaudier Cave, along the Tardoire (Charente), France. The mandible was found in association with stone tools and animal bones in geological deposits referable to the very end of the Middle Pleistocene or the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene. The mandible preserves much of the anterior part of the body and three permanent teeth: left lateral incisor, canine and first molar. Estimates based on tooth eruption of modern humans, as well as occlusal wear and root development, suggest an age at death of between 12.5 and 14.5 years. Morphologically, the fossil possesses features, such as a lack of a chin and multiple mental foramina, which have been observed on immature Neanderthal mandibular specimens from Europe. Comparison with these immature European Neanderthals indicates that the jaw and teeth of the Montgaudier mandible are small for its chronological age, suggesting it was that of a female. Am J Phys Anthropol 103:507–527, 1997 © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.