RESEARCH ARTICLE Middle Stone Age human teeth from Magubike rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania Pamela R. Willoughby1☯*, Tim Compton2☯, Silvia M. Bello2☯, Pastory M. Bushozi3☯, Anne R. Skinner4☯, Chris B. Stringer2☯ 1 Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 2 Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom, 3 Department of History and Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 4 Department of Chemistry, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States of America a1111111111 ☯ These authors contributed equally to this work. a1111111111 *
[email protected] a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 Abstract In 2006, six isolated hominin teeth were excavated from Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits at the Magubike rockshelter in southern Tanzania. They comprise two central incisors, one OPEN ACCESS lateral incisor, one canine, one third premolar, and one fourth premolar. All are fully devel- oped and come from the maxilla. None of the teeth are duplicated, so they may represent a Citation: Willoughby PR, Compton T, Bello SM, Bushozi PM, Skinner AR, Stringer CB (2018) single individual. While there is some evidence of post-depositional alteration, the morphol- Middle Stone Age human teeth from Magubike ogy of these teeth clearly shares features with anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Both rockshelter, Iringa Region, Tanzania. PLoS ONE 13 metric and non-metric traits are compared to those from other African and non-African den- (7): e0200530. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. tal remains. The degree of biological relatedness between eastern and southern African pone.0200530 Stone Age hunter-gatherers has long been a subject of interest, and several characteristics Editor: Roberto Macchiarelli, Universite de Poitiers, of the Magubike teeth resemble those of the San of southern Africa.