Mandibular ramus posterior flexure: a sex indicator in Homo sapiens fossil hominids?

Accurate determination of sex in skeletal human samples is very important in anthropological and demographic studies. Recently, Loth and Henneberg have suggested that a new osteological criterion on the mandible, the mandibular ramus posterior flexure (MRPF) had a high sex discriminating effectiveness. A preliminary test applied to a few hominid mandibles )including Australopithecines, Homo erectus, Neanderthals and Upper palaeolithic hominids) apparently confirmed the high reliability of the MRPF as a sex indicator ‘over time and through palaeospecies’. As the pelvis is commonly considered as providing the most significant criteria that allows the establishment of skeletal sexual dimorphism of adults, the present paper evaluates this mandibular feature on a few additional palaeolithic hominids (i.e. Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans) for whom a gender estimation was known based upon the pelvis. This analysis was conducted on the original material and its results appear in contradiction with those of the previous studies made by Loth and Henneberg. A reconsideration of the visual assessment of MRPF as a sex indicator in Homo sapiens fossil hominids is therefore suggested. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The mandible and dentition of the Early Cretaceous monotreme Teinolophos trusleri

Rich, T.H., Hopson, J.A., Gill, P.G., Trusler, P., Rogers-Davidson, S., Morton, S., Cifelli, R.L., Pickering, D., Kool, L., Siu, K., Burgmann, F.A., Senden, T., Evans, A.R., Wagstaff, B.E., Seegets-Villiers, D., Corfe, I.J., Flannery, T.F., Walker, K., Musser, A.M., Archer, M., Pian, R. & Vickers-Rich, P., June 2016. The mandible and dentition of the Early Cretaceous monotreme Teinolophos trusleri. Alcheringa 40, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The monotreme Teinolophos trusleri Rich, Vickers-Rich, Constantine, Flannery, Kool & van Klaveren, 1999 Rich, T.H., Vickers-Rich, P., Constantine, A., Flannery, T.F., Kool, L. & van Klaveren, N., 1999. Early Cretaceous mammals from Flat Rocks, Victoria, Australia. Records of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 106, 1–34. [Google Scholar] from the Early Cretaceous of Australia is redescribed and reinterpreted here in light of additional specimens of that species and compared with the exquisitely preserved Early Cretaceous mammals from Liaoning Province, China. Together, this material indicates that although T. trusleri lacked a rod of postdentary bones contacting the dentary, as occurs in non-mammalian cynodonts and basal mammaliaforms, it did not share the condition present in all living mammals, including monotremes, of having the three auditory ossicles, which directly connect the tympanic membrane to the fenestra ovalis, being freely suspended within the middle ear cavity. Rather, T. trusleri appears to have had an intermediate condition, present in some Early Cretaceous mammals from Liaoning, in which the postdentary bones cum ear ossicles retained a connection to a persisting Meckel’s cartilage although not to the dentary. Teinolophos thus indicates that the condition of freely suspended auditory ossicles was acquired independently in monotremes and therian mammals. Much of the anterior region of the lower jaw of Teinolophos is now known, along with an isolated upper ultimate premolar. The previously unknown anterior region of the jaw is elongated and delicate as in extant monotremes, but differs in having at least seven antemolar teeth, which are separated by distinct diastemata. The dental formula of the lower jaw of Teinolophos trusleri as now known is i2 c1 p4 m5. Both the deep lower jaw and the long-rooted upper premolar indicate that Teinolophos, unlike undoubted ornithorhynchids (including the extinct Obdurodon), lacked a bill.

Thomas H. Rich [trich@museum.vic.gov.au], Sally Rogers-Davidson [srogers@museum.vic.gov.au], David Pickering [dpick@museum.vic.gov.au], Timothy F. Flannery [tim.flannery@textpublishing.com.au], Ken Walker [kwalker@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia; James A. Hopson [jhopson@uchicago.edu], Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago,1025 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Pamela G. Gill [pam.gill@bristol.ac.uk], School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RJ, U.K. and Earth Science Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Peter Trusler [peter@petertrusler.com.au], Lesley Kool [koollesley@gmail.com], Doris Seegets-Villiers [doris.seegets-villiers@monash.edu], Patricia Vickers-Rich [pat.rich@monash.edu], School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Steve Morton [steve.morton@monash.edu], Karen Siu [karen.siu@monash.edu], School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Richard L. Cifelli [rlc@ou.edu] Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73072, USA; Flame A. Burgmann [flame.burgmann@monash.edu], Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, 10 Innovation Walk, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Tim Senden [Tim.Senden@anu.edu.au], Department of Applied Mathematics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia; Alistair R. Evans [alistair.evans@monash.edu], School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; Barbara E. Wagstaff [wagstaff@unimelb.edu.au], School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia; Ian J. Corfe [ian.corfe@helsinki.fi], Institute of Biotechnology, Viikinkaari 9, 00014, University of Helsinki, Finland; Anne M. Musser [anne.musser@austmus.gov.au], Australian Museum, 1 College Street, Sydney NSW 2010 Australia; Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; Rebecca Pian [rpian@amnh.org], Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA. Received 7.4.2016; accepted 14.4.2016.     

Itaakpa,a Late Stone Age site in southwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Itaakpa rockshelter was excavated in three short field seasons, from 1985 to 1988, during which a human maxilla and mandible were found in a context characteristic of the ceramic phase of the West African Late Stone Age (LSA). An AMS date of 2210±80 b.p. was obtained from burned palm kernels from the same level. There was no apparent stratigraphic or archaeological break between this level and the layers above, and the pottery indicates continuity of occupation; the upper part of the sequence compares well with other, more recent, sites known in the area. The dimensions of the human teeth show an affinity with those found at Shum Laka, a rockshelter in southwestern Cameroun, in an archaeological context similar to that at Itaakpa. The site is only the third to be found in Nigeria (along with Iwo Eleru and Rop Rockshelter) where human remains suitable for comparative analysis have been identified in a good stratigraphic context along with LSA artifacts.     

Dogs,jaws, and other stories: Two symbolic objects made of dog mandibles from southeastern Europe

The relationship between people and dogs has its beginnings in the Palaeolithic and extends to contemporary times. This paper explores the role of dogs in Eneolithic communities from the Balkans, with a particular focus on two dog mandibles which were discovered in House No. 14 at Sultana-Malu Ro?u (ca. 4600?–?3950 b.c.) in Romania. The two artifacts belong to different excavation levels. The first mandible was identified in the foundation trench which marks the beginning of the house's lifecycle; the second was found in the abandonment level of the house, marking the end of its lifecycle. Archaeozoological, technological and functional analyses demonstrate the unique character of these prehistoric artifacts, telling the stories of those who used, sacrificed and abandoned them.     

Seasonality and age structure in an archaeological assemblage of Sika deer (Cervus nippon)

Sika deer (Cervus nippon) was one of the major terrestrial mammals hunted in Japan throughout the Jomon period, which extends from the end of the Palaeolithic until the arrival of rice agriculture in the first millennium bc . Mandibular analysis of hunted deer is believed to be more useful in determining the season of death than antlers in archaeological contexts. This paper aims to present a new method of estimating an occupational season of a Jomon site by using sika deer mandibles. This method consists of two stages. First, two measurements on a mandible should be taken. If the distribution shows any gaps among young juveniles, this strongly suggests that the sika was hunted in a specific season. Second, tooth eruption and attrition stage should be observed; this may suggest the season in which hunting took place. This method was utilized to analyse sika deer remains from Awashimadai in eastern Kanto. The result of the analysis shows that deer were hunted only from spring to summer at Awashimadai. Putting these results together with the estimate of seasonality deduced from other species strongly suggests that the site was occupied only from April to July. This paper also examines how the tooth attrition stages of sika deer progress. The preliminary comparison with red deer (Cervus elaphus) in England suggests that molar wear progresses more quickly in sika than in red deer. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hypodontia of permanent teeth among Middle Palaeolithic hominids: an early case dated to ca. 92 000±5000 years BP at the Qafzeh site

The analysis of the maxillae and mandible belonging to a Middle Palaeolithic child has provided evidence of the early appearance of a developmental dental anomaly among Homo sapiens. The material came from the Near Eastern site of Qafzeh. In the mandible there was agenesis of the left second premolar and congenital absence of the right could not be totally excluded. Additional analyses including two presumed cases of dental development anomalies within contemporaneous prehistoric populations showed that tooth agenesis also can affect the anterior region of the mandible, and could be clearly separated from ante-mortem tooth loss caused by trauma. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bone mineral content in medieval Greenland Norse

The bone mineral content (BMC) was measured using a special dual-photon scanner in 25 mandibles with normal macroscopic and radiographic bone structure. The mandibles were excavated from two Norse sites in Greenland, which date to the first and last part of the medieval Norse settlement period, respectively. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a change in BMC levels between the early and the late settlement period. The results showed no difference in male BMC between the early and the late site material. A statistically significant gender difference was found, analogous to most clinical and archaeological BMC studies. The sample did not allow testing for age-related, especially female postmenopausal-related, bone loss. It is known that Eskimos generally have a very low BMC, probably the effect of a high-protein marine diet. The lack of decrease in BMC levels for the Norse could indicate that they did not increase their overall protein intake over the 500-year settlement period. Other studies (both archaeological and anthropological) point to an increased reliance on marine foodstuffs throughout the settlement period. Thus, if the Norse increased their reliance on marine foodstuffs, they probably did not do so to the extent of an almost exclusive marine diet like that of the Eskimo. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The skulls of Chief Nonosabasut and his wife Demasduit – Beothuk of Newfoundland

In March 1819 a young woman was abducted by white settlers and her husband was killed. They were among the few remaining members of the Beothuk of Newfoundland. Eight years later their skulls were removed from their burial hut and transferred to the University of Edinburgh. This paper describes these two important skulls and details injuries and pathologies not previously recorded in detail. Chief Nonosabasut displayed evidence of extensive trauma to the region of his chin which is most likely to be evidence of previous, but well‐healed, combat injuries. His wife, Demasduit, presented with an intriguing perimortem fracture to the left parietal bone which extended onto the base of the skull. This is discussed in the light of evidence available at the time of her death. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The application of 3D‐microprofilometry as a tool in the surface diagnosis of fossil and sub‐fossil vertebrate hard tissue. An example from the Pliocene Upper Laetolil Beds,Tanzania

Non‐contact optical 3D‐profiling instruments are often used in the study of surface modifications on fossil mammalian bone. The advantage of optical laser scanning for the study of fossil and sub‐fossil bone is its non‐contact nature, allowing the investigation of fragile and poorly preserved surfaces. The high resolution and fast measuring rate of this method make it an alternative to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation if topography is to be visualized. This study analyses clusters of incisions in a suid humeral fragment from the Pliocene Upper Laetolil Beds. The marks show a characteristic crest structure that is also frequently found in mandible marks produced by the Australian termite species Mastotermes darwiniensis. The marks from the Laetolil Beds are, therefore, interpreted as also being caused by insect mandible action. An as yet unknown large insect species capable of modifying bone with their mandibles is thus postulated in the palaeohabitat represented by the hominid‐bearing Upper Laetolil Beds. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.