Dental cementum virtual histology of Neanderthal teeth from Krapina (Croatia, 130-120 kyr): an informed estimate of age, sex and adult stressors.

The evolution of modern human reproductive scheduling is an aspect of our life history that remains vastly uncomprehended. The present work aims to address this gap by validating a non-destructive cutting-edge methodology to infer adult life-history events on modern teeth with known life history and then applying it to fossil specimens. We use phase-contrast synchrotron X-ray microtomography to visualize the dental cementum of 21 specimens: nine contemporary humans; 10 Neanderthals from Krapina (Croatia, 130-120 kyr); one Neolithic from Ajmana (Serbia); and one Mesolithic from Vlasac (Serbia).

Growth of Neanderthal infants from Krapina (120-130 ka), Croatia.

Modern humans have a slow and extended period of childhood growth, but to what extent this ontogenetic pathway was present in Neanderthals is debated. Dental development, linked to the duration of somatic growth across modern primates, is the main source for information about growth and development in a variety of fossil primates, including humans. Studies of Neanderthal permanent teeth report a pace of development either similar to recent humans or relatively accelerated.

Surface analysis of an eagle talon from Krapina.

The Krapina white-tailed eagle talons represent a kind of jewelry worn by Krapina Neandertals some 130,000 years ago. New inspection of one Krapina talon (386.1) revealed a fiber, sealed by a thin silicate coating, adhering to the surface within a wide cut mark, as well as concentrated traces of occasional spots of red and yellow pigment and some black stains.

Tooth grooves, occlusal striations, dental calculus, and evidence for fiber processing in an Italian eneolithic/bronze age cemetery.

Objectives: We conducted a systematic macroscopic and microscopic examination of occlusal and para-occlusal wear in a large dental sample (n = 3,014) from 217 individuals dated to the Early Bronze age site of Gricignano d'Aversa, Italy. We used macroscopic and microscopic techniques to document nondietary occlusal and para-occlusal wear and to analyze calculus inclusions in some of the teeth. In combining an analysis of the wear with the calculus inclusions we linked the specific wear to the likely fiber that was involved in producing it.

Tooth fractures in the Krapina Neandertals.

Dental fractures can be produced during life or post-mortem. Ante-mortem chipping may be indicative of different uses of the dentition in masticatory and non-masticatory activities related to variable diets and behaviors. The Krapina collection (Croatia, 130,000 years BP), thanks to the large number of teeth (293 teeth and tooth fragments) within it, offers an excellent sample to investigate dental fractures systematically.

Right-handed fossil humans.

Fossil hominids often processed material held between their upper and lower teeth. Pulling with one hand and cutting with the other, they occasionally left impact cut marks on the lip (labial) surface of their incisors and canines. From these actions, it possible to determine the dominant hand used.

The endocast of the one-million-year-old human cranium from Buia (UA 31), Danakil Eritrea.

Objectives: The Homo erectus-like cranium from Buia (UA 31) was found in the Eritrean Danakil depression and dated to 1 million years. Its outer morphology displays archaic traits, as well as distinctive and derived characters. The present study provides the description and metric comparison of its endocranial anatomy.

Cochlear labyrinth volume in Krapina Neandertals.

Research with extant primate taxa suggests that cochlear labyrinth volume is functionally related to the range of audible frequencies. Specifically, cochlear volume is negatively correlated with both the high and low frequency limits of hearing so that the smaller the cochlea, the higher the normal range of audible frequencies. The close anatomical relationship between the membranous cochlea and the bony cochlear labyrinth allows for the determination of cochlear size from fossil specimens.

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.

The late Early Pleistocene human dental remains from Uadi Aalad and Mulhuli-Amo (Buia), Eritrean Danakil: macromorphology and microstructure.

Fieldwork performed during the last 15 years in various Early Pleistocene East African sites has significantly enlarged the fossil record of Homo erectus sensu lato (s.l.).

Brief communication: Investigation of the semicircular canal variation in the Krapina Neandertals.

Previous studies comparing bony labyrinth morphology in geographically-dispersed samples of Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens (H. sapiens) showed that Neandertals generally have smaller semicircular canals than modern H. sapiens (Hublin et al.

Fibrous dysplasia in a 120,000+ year old Neandertal from Krapina, Croatia.

We describe the first definitive case of a fibrous dysplastic neoplasm in a Neandertal rib (120.71) from the site of Krapina in present-day Croatia. The tumor predates other evidence for these kinds of tumor by well over 100,000 years.

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.

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.

Right handed Neandertals: Vindija and beyond.

Seven Vindija (Croatia) Neandertal teeth, dated about 32,000 years ago, were analyzed to determine patterning of scratches on the anterior teeth. Oblique scratches exclusively on the labial faces of incisors and canines represent a distinctive pattern, characteristic of hand directed, non-masticatory activities. At Vindija and elsewhere these scratches reveal activities, which were performed primarily with the right hand.

Unique ramus anatomy for Neandertals?

The ramus of Neandertal mandibles is said to show a suite of uniquely Neandertal character states that demonstrate the independent course of Neandertal evolution. This is the latest of numerous attempts to define cranial and mandibular autapomorphies for Neandertals. We examine variation in the four presumably autapomorphic ramal features and show they are neither monomorhic within Neandertals (to the contrary Neandertals are at least as variable as other human samples) nor unique to Neandertals, since they regularly appear in populations predating and postdating them.