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A Comparison of the Krapina Lower Facial Remains to an Ontogenetic Series of Neandertal Fossils

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A Comparison of the Krapina Lower Facial Remains to an Ontogenetic Series of Neandertal Fossils PERIODICUM BIOLOGORUM UDC 57:61 VOL. 108, No 3, 279–288, 2006 CODEN PDBIAD ISSN 0031-5362 Original scientific paper A Comparison of the Krapina Lower Facial Remains to an Ontogenetic Series of Neandertal Fossils Abstract FRANK L’ENGLEWILLIAMS The Krapina facial remains are associated with the Neandertals based Department of Anthropology on a number of descriptive morphological traits, but the degree to which Georgia State University these fossils correspond to the morphology of other Neandertals has largely P.O. Box 3998, Atlanta been assumed rather than explicitly examined. One reason initially was the GA 30303, United States E-mail: [email protected] dearth of an ontogenetic series of Neandertal nonadults. Since Gorjano- vi}-Kramberger discovered Krapina over100 years ago, additional Ne- andertal fossils in Israel, France, Belgium, Italy and Uzbekistan have been recovered. Here the Krapina remains are compared to a large ontogenetic Key words: facial, masticatory, Krapina, growth, maxilla, mandible series of Neandertal adults, subadults, juveniles and infants (n = 41). Growth trajectories of Neandertal lower facial traits are used to assess the absolute growth of traits at Krapina. Principal components analyses, done separately for the lower maxilla and mandible, demonstrate some relation- ships between Krapina fossils and other Neandertals based on multiple traits. The results demonstrate that, compared to other Neandertals, Kra- pina nonadults exhibit long palates, and adults exhibit both tall and short mandibular symphyses, thickened mandibular corpora, short to mid-range ascending rami and relatively long mandibles. The alveolar process and lower piriform aperture are within the range of other Neandertals. The re- mains at Krapina record important growth signals characterizing late juve- nile and subadult Neandertal ontogeny–life cycle stages that are largely ab- sent from the Neandertal fossil record. INTRODUCTION he Krapina fossils represent an important range of variation for ju- Tveniles, subadults and adults that is typically lacking at most Up- per Pleistocene sites (1). One unfortunate aspect of the Krapina re- mains is the fragmentary nature of the fossils (2). No complete crania exist, and most individuals are represented by isolated teeth, or teeth embedded within alveolar fragments. However, the ontogenetic vari- ability of the facial fragments, which can be estimated from patterns of tooth eruption, is exceptionally preserved. Krapina provides researchers a unique opportunity to assess patterns of growth at a single Upper Pleistocene site. Studies of Neandertals have primarily focused on adults (3–9). The growth and development of Upper Pleistocene hominid remains has recently received attention because of the shear number of nonadults Received April 27, 2006. represented in this fossil record as well as the potential of nonadults to add important inference into understanding how adult forms arise. Tillier F. L. Williams Krapina Maxillae and Mandibles pioneered comparisons of nonadult Neandertals des- thermore, the selection of a reference sample of modern criptively and analytically (10–13). Minugh-Purvis added humans can greatly alter the results (13–14). Fossils at- a much needed inventory of the Neandertal and early tributed to Middle Paleolithic sites (i.e., the Neandertals) modern human nonadults to the literature (14),aswell are possibly the best sample to assess patterns of growth as important analyses of the Neandertal remains (15). and development at Krapina due to presumed behavioral Williams and colleagues assessed the Neandertal non- similarities. Since patterns of growth depend on esti- adults and adults under the rubric of heterochrony (16– mates of age, and age in fossils is normally determined by 17), while Krovitz added a three-dimensional approach patterns of dental eruption, teeth must be directly associ- to understanding differences between Neandertals and ated with the fossil remains to reliably estimate dental modern humans (18). Ponce de León and Zollikofer pro- age. The Krapina sample largely comprises fragmentary vided computer reconstructions of the most well pre- individuals, so patterns of growth are necessarily con- served Neandertal nonadults (19). Other researchers have fined to facial remains. The objective here is to compare explored Neandertal postcranial remains (20), dental de- the growth patterns manifested at Krapina to a large velopment (21), mental foramen position (22–25) as well ontogenetic series of Neandertals. as descriptive morphology and dental traits (26–30). The Krapina assemblage has not been featured in all METHODS AND MATERIALS studies of Neandertal ontogeny probably due to the frag- mentary nature of the remains, and the variability of in- The Neandertal sample used in this analysis comprises dividuals. Furthermore, the ontogenetic series represent- 38 original fossils and three casts from a broad geo- ed at Krapina most likely spans several time intervals, graphic range, including Belgium, Croatia, Czech Re- and lacks unequivocal chronometric dates; excavation of public, France, Gibraltar, Hungary, Israel, Italy and Uz- the site in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries bekistan (Table1). Life cycle stage was constructed solely destroyed much of the contextual information forever. on the basis of dental eruption. The neonate stage in- The potential temporal variation in the Neandertal sam- cludes individuals with no dental elements erupted; in- ple is complicated further by the fact that the Krapina site fants include those individuals with all deciduous teeth most likely spans the last interglacial to the beginning of erupted, but not M1; juveniles comprise individuals with the last glacial time periods. Despite these caveats, most M1 fully erupted, but not M2, subadults are individuals researchers consider Krapina as a single, albeit varied, with M2 fully erupted, but not M3; and adults exhibit population. M3 at the occlusal plane. Patterns of growth and development evidenced at Kra- In aging the Neandertal sample, the procedures and pina are difficult to assess without reference to a larger developmental profiles used to age modern humans were comparative sample. Modern humans may not be the followed, although there is some evidence that Nean- most appropriate comparative sample for the Krapina re- dertals may have exhibited a more rapid dental eruption mains because of marked cultural differences that tend to than that of modern Homo sapiens (21, 30). Although the be expressed skeletally (e.g., dietary and behavioral dif- process of assigning minimum ages can be fraught with ferences contributing to craniofacial robustness). Fur- error, estimated age is absolutely necessary to understand TABLE 1 List of 14 institutions visited and 41 fossils examined. Location Institution and Fossil Sample Belgium Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (Spy 1, La Naulette) Diréction de l’Archéologie, Ministére de la Région Wallonne (Sclayn 3) Université de Liège (Engis 2) Croatia Croatian Natural History Museum (Krapina Maxillae B, C, D, E; Mandibles C, D, E, F, G, H, J; Rami 1and 4) Czech Moravske Museum (casts of Sipka and Ochoz) England British Natural History Museum (Forbes’ Quarry, Tabun C1, Devil’s Tower) France Musée de L’Homme(La Chapelle-aux-Saints, La Ferrassie, La Quina 5, Pech de l’Azé, Malarnaud) Musée des Antiquités Nationales-Saint Germain-en-Laye (La Quina 18) Muséum National de Préhistoire-Les Eyzies-de-Tayac (Roc de Marsal) Université de Poitiers (Châteauneuf-sur-Charente) Hungary Természettudományi Muzeum (Subalyuk 1 and 2) Israel Tel Aviv University (Amud 1 and 7, Kebara 2, cast of Teshik-Tash) Italy Museo Preistorico Ethnografico, ’Luigi Pigorini’ (Guattari 1) Istituto di Paleontologia Umana (Circeo 2 and 3, Archi 1) 280 Period biol, Vol 108, No 3, 2006. Krapina Maxillae and Mandibles F. L. Williams the growth of traits. Dental eruption patterns are be- TABLE 3 lieved to closely follow chronological age (31–33) be- Dental ages of the fossil sample (n = 41). cause they are largely resistant to environmental insults (e.g., changes in nutrition, climate and disease) that af- Life Cycle Fossil Dental age fect the development of other bodily systems in humans. Stage in years The same was probably true for Neandertals as daily in- Neonate Amud 7 0.5 cremental markings for a Tabun C1 first molar indicate Subalyuk 2 2.5 that Neandertals and modern humans probably had si- Pech de l’Azé 2.8 milar rates of enamel formation (34). Furthermore, Ne- Roc de Marsal 3 Infants andertal and modern human adult brain sizes overlap Châteauneuf-sur-Charente 3 significantly. Smith (33) infers that adult brain size is (pre-M1) Archi 1 3.5 highly correlated with age at M1 eruption in anthropoid primates and she suggests a similar age at M1 eruption Engis 2 4.5 for Neandertals and modern humans on the basis of their Devil’s Tower 5 great overlap in adult brain sizes. Indeed, the larger- Krapina Maxilla B 6 brained Neandertals may have erupted their first molars La Quina 18 7.5 slightly later than modern humans. Wolpoff (30) argues Krapina Maxilla C 9.5 on the basis of dental wear that the third molar may have Juveniles Teshik-Tash (cast) 9.5 erupted earlier in Neandertals than in modern humans. (pre-M2) In contrast to the idiosyncrasies of growth, estimated dif- Krapina Mandible C 11 ferences in timing are minor, however, and the schedule Sclayn 3 11 for modern human dental eruption was accepted as the best Sipka (cast) 11 available timetable
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