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Evidence for Interpersonal Violence in the St. Ce´ Saire Neanderthal

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Evidence for Interpersonal Violence in the St. Ce´ Saire Neanderthal Evidence for interpersonal violence in the St. Ce´saire Neanderthal Christoph P. E. Zollikofer*†, Marcia S. Ponce de Leo´ n*, Bernard Vandermeersch‡, and Franc¸ois Le´ veˆ que§ *Anthropological Institute and MultiMedia Laboratory͞Department of Computer Science, University of Zu¨rich, 8057 Zu¨rich, Switzerland; ‡Laboratoire d’Anthropologie, Universite´de Bordeaux I, 33405 Talence, France; and §Re´sidence Charles Perrault, 3, Rue de Provence, 86000 Poitiers, France Communicated by Erik Trinkaus, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, February 26, 2002 (received for review December 1, 2001) The St. Ce´saire 1 Neanderthal skeleton of a young adult individual derive from a spatially confined area with a diameter of no more is unique in its association with Chaˆtelperronian artifacts from a than 70 cm (1). The excavation yielded no signs of a burial pit; level dated to ca. 36,000 years ago. Computer-tomographic imag- yet the local inhomogeneity in the distribution of rocks and ing and computer-assisted reconstruction of the skull revealed a implements at the spot where the skeleton was found, as well as healed fracture in the cranial vault. When paleopathological and its association with Dentalium shells (10), may be indicative of an forensic diagnostic standards are applied, the bony scar bears intentional burial (11). The postcranium is represented by direct evidence for the impact of a sharp implement, which was fragments of the axial skeleton and the limb bones, some of presumably directed toward the individual during an act of inter- which were found in anatomical connection. The skull was lying personal violence. These findings add to the evidence that Nean- on its right side, with the upper and lower jaws in anatomical derthals used implements not only for hunting and food process- association. Most of the preserved cranial structures come from ing, but also in other behavioral contexts. It is hypothesized that the right side and comprise the mandible and maxillae (up to the the high intra-group damage potential inherent to weapons might left lateral incisors), the face, and the right anterolateral region have represented a major factor during the evolution of hominid of the braincase. The internal lamina of the cranial vault bones social behavior. is partially eroded, and with the exception of several isolated teeth, the left cranial half is missing (Fig. 1). Deterioration and Chaˆtelperronian ͉ paleopathology ͉ tool use ͉ trauma ͉ computer tomography loss of these elements is probably because of temporary exposure and weathering of the upper layers of the sediment in which the fossil was embedded (1). he St. Ce´saire 1 Neanderthal partial skeleton was discovered The physical reconstruction of the fragmented right hemi- Tin 1979 at the site of La Roche a`Pierrot (near the village of mandible and skull was performed by one of us (B.V.) and St. Ce´saire, Charente Maritime, France), a collapsed rock shelter revealed taphonomic deformation of the face relative to the comprising a sequence of Mousterian, Chaˆtelperronian, and braincase, resulting in an everted position of the cranial vault Aurignacian deposits (1). The skeleton was recovered from level relative to the midplane of the skull. As an effect of the general EJ0P (1), which contains a Chaˆtelperronian assemblage ther- flattening of the cranial morphology, the anatomical connec- moluminescence-dated to Ϸ36,000 years ago (2, 3). This ensem- tions between larger reconstructed pieces remained inconclu- ble represented the first direct evidence for the association of sive. Among these was an apical vault fragment representing Neanderthals with Chaˆtelperronian implements. Together with substantial portions of the right frontal and parietal bones joined a similar association from the site of Arcy-sur-Cure (4), these finds spurred an intense and ongoing debate over the evolution- along the coronal suture. This fragment is delimited by post- ary, paleodemographic, and cultural relationships between local mortem fractures on its anterior, posterior, and lateral sides (Fig. Neanderthal populations and the early modern human (EMH) 1). The medial margin, however, exhibits a smooth border, which newcomers during the early Upper Paleolithic in Europe. extends in an anteroposterior direction across the coronal suture The St. Ce´saire 1 skeleton is fragmented and partially eroded, and was initially interpreted as representing the partially fused but the reconstructed craniomandibular and long bone diaphy- sagittal (interparietal) and metopic (interfrontal) sutures. seal morphology permitted significant inferences regarding the To correct the taphonomic deformation of the skull and phyletic status and behavioral specializations of this individual. re-assess the anatomical position of this piece, we performed a The craniomandibular morphology of the specimen largely computerized reconstruction of the skull. Virtual reconstruction corresponds to the ‘‘classical’’ Neanderthal type (5). Tooth was indispensable because the brittleness of the original fossil microwear analysis suggests a meat-rich diet comparable to that material prevented physical disassembly and manipulation of the of earlier Neanderthals and modern hunting societies (6). The specimen. Following three-dimensional data acquisition with morphology of the well-preserved right femoral shaft indicates computer tomography (CT), all fragments were isolated elec- Neanderthal-type hyperarctic body proportions, but cross- tronically from filling material and then recomposed on the sectional biomechanical analysis suggests locomotor patterns computer screen, according to procedures and criteria described closer to those of EMH than of classic Neanderthals (7). in ref. 12 (a detailed account of the new reconstruction will be Here we report on recently discovered paleopathological given elsewhere). One result was that the medial border of the aspects of the morphology of the fossil. During computer- isolated cranial vault piece clearly does not correspond to the assisted reconstruction of the skull, we detected a healed frac- midsagittal plane of the skull (Fig. 1), nor does it represent ture in the cranial vault. When paleopathological diagnostic normal cranial anatomy at its true position lateral of the standards (8, 9) are applied, this bony scar bears direct evidence midsagittal plane. for the impact of a sharp implement, which may have been We established a differential diagnostic scheme, according to directed toward the individual during an act of interpersonal which this unusual morphology, its underlying causes, and violence. We discuss the possible behavioral context of this evidence and its implications for hominid behavior during the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe. Abbreviations: EMH, early modern human(s); CT, computer tomography. †To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: zolli@ifi.unizh.ch. Materials and Methods The publication costs of this article were defrayed in part by page charge payment. This The St. Ce´saire skeletal remains belong to a young adult, possibly article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. male, individual. All preserved cranial and postcranial elements §1734 solely to indicate this fact. 6444–6448 ͉ PNAS ͉ April 30, 2002 ͉ vol. 99 ͉ no. 9 www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.082111899 Downloaded by guest on September 30, 2021 margin (Fig. 1) exclude that it represents parts of the interpa- rietal and a supposed metopic suture. On the other hand, a presumed suture in parasagittal position would imply the exis- tence of a large persisting fontanelle or a bregmatic ossicle (15). However, the fairly straight margin does not correspond to a border around a fontanelle or a suture around a bregmatic ossicle. Furthermore, the cross-sectional structure of the bone clearly differs from that of an interosseous suture, which exhibits a corrugated border with less dense cortical bone than the border of a healed wound (Fig. 3). The most probable cause of the observed morphology is therefore bone regeneration following a lesion, a scenario that is corroborated by the close match of the cross-sectional morphology of the St. Ce´saire fragment (Fig. 3a) with that of comparative specimens exhibiting healed trepana- tions and scars (Fig. 3 b, e, and f). In a next step, we analyzed the morphology of the injury with the aim to infer the proximate mechanical causes of the lesion and to reconstruct its posttraumatic history. As evidenced by the nearly straight border of the scar, the individual most probably suffered a lesion from a blade-shaped object. The resulting slash in the cranial vault is preserved on its right (lateral) side over a length of 68 mm; it was probably slightly longer in vivo. The left (medial) side of the groove was lost during fossilization. Judging from the degree of bone remodeling along the margin, the injury reached its greatest depth near the coronal suture, correspond- ing to the presumed primary site of impact. Toward the anterior and posterior ends, the groove tapers off. This morphology most closely matches the pattern of direct, sharp trauma. Under these ANTHROPOLOGY biomechanical conditions, the high but localized stresses caused by the impacting object lead to puncturing͞cutting of the scalp and the external lamina of the bone, comminution of the diploe¨, and separation͞displacement of bone fragments from the in- ternal lamina (9). The St. Ce´saire specimen in fact bears evidence that at the primary site of the impact
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