Premium
Neandertal mandibles from the Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, southeastern Spain
Author(s) -
Walker Michael J.,
Lombardi A. Vincent,
Zapata Josefina,
Trinkaus Erik
Publication year - 2010
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/ajpa.21223
Subject(s) - middle paleolithic , anatomy , pleistocene , foramen , mental foramen , mandible (arthropod mouthpart) , upper paleolithic , biology , geography , archaeology , paleontology , zoology , medicine , radiography , radiology , genus
The Middle Paleolithic levels of the Sima de las Palomas have yielded eight partial mandibles (Palomas 1, 6, 7, 23, 49, 59, 80, and 88). Palomas 7, 49, 80, and 88 are immature, and Palomas 49, 59, 80, and 88 are among the latest Neandertals (∼40,000 cal BP). Palomas 1 is geologically older (∼50,000–60,000 cal BP), and the other three were found ex situ. The mandibles exhibit a suite of characteristics that align them with the Neandertals among later Pleistocene humans, including symphyseal morphology, symphyseal orientation, corpus robusticity, distal mental foramen position, retromolar space presence, wide immature dental arcade, and high‐coronoid process with an asymmetrical mandibular notch. However, Palomas 6 lacks a retromolar space, Palomas 59 has a narrow lateral corpus, and Palomas 80 has a mesial mental foramen and open mandibular foramen. The Palomas mandibles therefore help to document that the late Middle Paleolithic of southern Iberia was the product of Neandertals. They also reinforce the presence of variability in both metric and discrete aspects of Neandertal mandibular morphology, both within and across samples, some of which may be temporal and/or geographic in nature. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.