Neanderthal Teeth from Moula-Guercy, Arde`Che, France
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 151:477–491 (2013) Neanderthal Teeth from Moula-Guercy, Arde` che, France Leslea J. Hlusko,1* Joshua P. Carlson,1 Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg,2 Kristin L. Krueger,3 Ben Mersey,1 Peter S. Ungar,4 and Alban Defleur5 1Human Evolution Research Center, University of California Berkeley, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, Berkeley, CA 94720 2Department of Anthropology, 4034 Smith Laboratory, The Ohio State University, 174 West 18th Columbus, OH 43210-1106 3Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660 4Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 5CNRS UMR 5276, Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, 46, Allee d’Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France KEY WORDS evolution; dental variation; paleontology; Hominidae ABSTRACT Here we describe dental remains from a significant number of linear enamel hypoplasias indi- Neanderthal fossil assemblage from Moula-Guercy, cates that these individuals were stressed during child- France. Our report demonstrates that the Moula-Guercy hood. Molar microwear data suggest that these hominid remains contribute important morphological, Neanderthals did not differ significantly from modern developmental, and behavioral data to understanding humans in terms of the fracture properties of the food Neanderthal evolutionary history. We include gross com- they were consuming. The incisor microwear and macro parative morphological descriptions and enamel surface striations provide evidence that these individuals may microstructure and microwear data. These teeth reveal have been using their anterior teeth as tools, similar to numerous characteristics that are diagnostic of Neander- the practices of several modern human populations such thals and provide no evidence for the presence of any as the Inuit, Ipiutak, and Australian Aboriginals, and other hominid taxa.
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