A reconsideration of the Fontéchevade fossils

Reconstructions of the Fontéchevade fossils normally depict them as adults without neandertaloid brow ridges. A reconsideration of the size of the frontal sinus, the interorbital breadth, and the frontal squamous thickness of the gracile Fontéchevade I fragment suggests that it could represent either an adolescent or an adult. Similarly, a reconstruction of the Fontéchevade II cranium indicates that it could equally possess or lack a supraorbital torus. Unfortunately, absolute proof of either reconstruction is not available, and therefore, the evolutionary significance of the fossils is uncertain.