David W. Frayer

Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population affinities and pathological abnormalities

Liang Bua 1 (LB1) exhibits marked craniofacial and postcranial asymmetries and other indicators of abnormal growth and development. Anomalies aside, 140 cranial features place LB1 within modern human ranges of variation, resembling Australomelanesian populations. Mandibular and dental features of LB1 and LB6/1 either show no substantial deviation from modern Homo sapiens or share features (receding chins and rotated premolars) with Rampasasa pygmies now living near Liang Bua Cave. We propose that LB1 is drawn from an earlier pygmy H. sapiens population but individually shows signs of a developmental abnormality, including microcephaly. Additional mandibular and postcranial remains from the site share small body size but not microcephaly.

Grave Shortcomings: The Evidence for Neandertal Burial [and Comments and Reply]

Evidence for purposeful disposal of the dead and other inferences of ritual behavior in the Middle Paleolithic are examined geoarchaeologically. Cave geomorphology, sedimentology, and taphonomy form the basis for a reexamination of the Neandertal discoveries most often cited in this connection: La Chapelle-auxSaints, Le Moustier, La Ferrassie, Teshik-Tash, Regourdou, and Shanidar. Logical incongruencies are identified between the published observations and the conclusion that Neandertals were being buried by their conspecifics.

Sexual dimorphism and cultural evolution in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Europe

Abstract Dental, cranial and body size data are reviewed for European Upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic males and females. Over these three periods there is a substantial decrease in the level of sexual dimorphism. From separate analysis of trends occurring between males and females, it is shown that the major cause for this decrease in sexual dimorphism is gracilization of the males between the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Reduction in males is related to shifting technological patterns associated with hunting and changes in the types of animals hunted. Further reduction in sexual dimorphism between the Mesolithic and Neolithic and from the Neolithic to modern European populations is shown to be more closely tied to changes occurring among females. Analysis of changing patterns of sexual dimorphism in Late Pleistocene and Holocene populations of Europe suggests an interrelationship between cultural and biological evolution.

Non-dietary Marks in the Anterior Dentition of the Krapina Neanderthals

A sample of 82 anterior teeth from Krapina (Croatia) was studied using a light binocular microscope and a scanning electron microscope to document the presence of non-dietary dental scratches. The patterns of distribution, location and orientation of these marks suggest two different aetiologies: scratches on the labial-occlusal enamel border appear to be related to the action of clenching abrasive materials between teeth, while the scratches primarily in the centre of the labial face correspond to cutmarks as described by other researchers. These scratches may have been produced when flake tools involved in processing materials held between the anterior teeth came into contact with the labial enamel face. Alternatively, they may simply reflect some consistent operation which pulled hard objects across the labial surfaces of the anterior teeth. In either case, the marks on the central face of the labial surface provide evidence for manual dexterity in the Neanderthals. Of the seven Krapina individuals which show a predominant pattern, one shows a pattern of left oblique marks, while six provide evidence of right-handedness. Coupled with other Neanderthal or Upper Pleistocene individuals with these patterns, right-handedness is the dominant pattern in 90 per cent of the documented cases. One complicating factor in the analysis of these scratches in the Krapina hominids is that marks of a similar morphology are found in several anterior teeth of Ursus spelaeus from the site. While resembling the marks on the hominid incisors, the scratches on the bears lack a dominant orientation on the labial face and appear to be more variable in their widths. Despite the occurrence of some similarities in the enamel scratches between ursids and hominids at Krapina, the study of anterior dental marks provides information about manipulative activities which are unique to ancient humans.

More than 500,000 years of right-handedness in Europe.

Considerable research supports the high frequency of right-handedness in living Homo sapiens, with worldwide rates of approximately nine right- for every one left-hander. Right-handedness appears to be a uniquely human trait, as no other primate species, no matter how proficient in tool use, shows frequencies even close to the strong right bias typical of humans (Cashmore, Uomini, & Chapelain, 2008; McGrew & Marchant 1997; Steele & Uomini, 2009). Here we review our research on human fossils from Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain) and their likely descendants, the European Neandertals. We document hand preference in fossils by scratch patterns that occur on the labial (lip) face of incisors and canines, and contend that these patterns provide a reliable means for identifying predominant hand use in these samples. Manipulatory marks on the anterior teeth show a persistent pattern of right-handed actions, implying that the modern human pattern of dominant right-handedness extends deep into the European past.

Multiregional Evolution: A World-Wide Source for Modern Human Populations

One of the great advances of twentieth-century biology has been the demonstration that all living people are extremely closely related (Lewontin 1984). Genetic research has provided what for some is the surprising result that our DNA similarities are far greater than the much more disparate anatomical variations of humanity might suggest. These variations, the object of systematic studies for over 150 years, involve both the visible external features of our bodies seen across the world, and their underlying skeletal structures. The detailing of this variation across the world, and for skeletal features over time as well, created a broad spectrum of theories about the human races — their relationships to each other and their origin. These genetic advances have rendered virtually all of them obsolete.

Evidence for Neandertal Jewelry: Modified White-Tailed Eagle Claws at Krapina

We describe eight, mostly complete white-tailed eagle (Haliaëtus [Haliaeetus] albicilla) talons from the Krapina Neandertal site in present-day Croatia, dating to approximately 130 kyrs ago. Four talons bear multiple, edge-smoothed cut marks; eight show polishing facets and/or abrasion. Three of the largest talons have small notches at roughly the same place along the plantar surface, interrupting the proximal margin of the talon blade. These features suggest they were part of a jewelry assemblage, --- the manipulations a consequence of mounting the talons in a necklace or bracelet. An associated phalanx articulates with one of the talons and has numerous cut marks, some of which are smoothed. These white-tailed eagle bones, discovered more than 100 years ago, all derive from a single level at Krapina and represent more talons than found in the entire European Mousterian period. Presence of eight talons indicates that the Krapina Neandertals acquired and curated eagle talons for some kind of symbolic purpose. Some have argued that Neandertals lacked symbolic ability or copied this behavior from modern humans. These remains clearly show that the Krapina Neandertals made jewelry well before the appearance of modern humans in Europe, extending ornament production and symbolic activity early into the European Mousterian.

Hand to mouth in a neandertal: right-handedness in Regourdou 1.

We describe and analyze a Neandertal postcranial skeleton and dentition, which together show unambiguous signs of right-handedness. Asymmetries between the left and right upper arm in Regourdou 1 were identified nearly 20 years ago, then confirmed by more detailed analyses of the inner bone structure for the clavicle, humerus, radius and ulna. The total pattern of all bones in the shoulder and arm reveals that Regourdou 1 was a right-hander. Confirmatory evidence comes from the mandibular incisors, which display a distinct pattern of right oblique scratches, typical of right-handed manipulations performed at the front of the mouth. Regourdous right handedness is consistent with the strong pattern of manual lateralization in Neandertals and further confirms a modern pattern of left brain dominance, presumably signally linguistic competence. These observations along with cultural, genetic and morphological evidence indicate language competence in Neandertals and their European precursors.

Aurignacian female Crania and teeth from the Mladeč Caves, Moravia, Czech Republic

The two female crania from Mladec were both found in the Main Cave by Szombathy in 1881. This paper presents their description and comparisons, and the descriptions of several much more fragmentary crania. There is no reason to assume their chronological age differs from the other surviving Mladec cranial material from the Main Cave or the remains from the Quarry Cave (Svoboda, 2000). Consequently, we do not repeat the geological and archaeological discussion in Frayer et al. (this volume). Mladec 1 is the most complete of all the cranial remains from Mladec. When first discovered it was regarded as male, but with the subsequent recovery of the Quarry Cave specimens (Mladec 5 and 6), it became apparent that Mladec 1 was female. While certainly not identical to Mladec 1, the more incomplete calotte Mladec 2 and the fragmentary face which articulates with it (Mladec 7) constitute the second female. Both specimens are young adults based on dental criteria. The other specimens we very briefly describe in this chapter are fragments now destroyed (Mladec 38 and 42) and the very fragmentary vault piece found by Knies (Mladec 41) in the Main Cave. The latter, in the Moravske zemske muzeum Brno collections, is a small vault fragment that is unidentifiable (and unsexable). Based on the inventory provided by Szombathy (1925) and our revisions of it, certainly more female remains existed in the Main Cave, but these are the only survivors with useful information preserved. As with the Mladec males, the tragedy at Mikulov castle robbed us all of a rich collection of early Upper Paleolithic female remains. Compared to the males, Mladec 1 and 2 are considerably more gracile and differ between each other in various aspects of their preserved anatomy. These two contrast with Neandertal females much more than the Mladec males contrast with Neandertal males. These two facts pose the main questions beyond the comparative descriptions that we consider here: the nature of sexual dimorphism at Mladec, and the contrasting patterns of male and female evolution. Mladec 1 and 2 are currently housed in the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien where they were studied by the authors at various times between 1974 and 2001.

Auditory Exostoses and Evidence for Fishing at Vlasac

but will help to improve the chronology and increase confidence in the results of the study. In the meantime, and completely independently, Thomas, Massone, and Benavente (i984:76) have developed a relative chronology for the pottery of San Pedro de Atacama and compared it with our results: in their opinion, these results confirm the sequence they have proposed. A massive program of thermoluminescence dating might yield important dividends, especially with regard to subphases. At any rate, the 43 dates presented here contribute to the reordering of the chronologies and sequences of other Atacamenian regions (see Aldunate et al. I986, Berenguer and Dauelsberg n.d.) and to a reorganization of museum materials (see Universidad del Norte i986).