Abstract
A fragmentary temporal bone and partial atlas from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) at Klasies River Mouth (KRM) are described and analyzed. The atlas (SAM-AP 6268) is comparable to Levantine "Early Modern", Neandertal and recent human vertebrae. The temporal (SAM-AP 6269) is similar to recent African homologues except that the posteromedial wall of the glenoid fossa is composed entirely of the squamous temporal, a situation that appears to be infrequent among other Pleistocene fossils. The KRM glenoid fossa is also mediolateraly broad and anteroposteriorly short in comparison with many, but not, all recent specimens. Nevertheless, the KRM temporal is decidedly modern, both morphologically and metrically, by comparison with other Pleistocene specimens. The limited evidence provided by this bone is consistent with that of other MSA cranial remains from this site in suggesting an overall, if somewhat ambiguous pattern of morphological modernity.
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