Abstract
We report here a neurocranial abnormality previously undescribed in Pleistocene human fossils, an enlarged parietal foramen (EPF) in the early Late Pleistocene Xujiayao 11 parietal bones from the Xujiayao (Houjiayao) site, northern China. Xujiayao 11 is a pair of partial posteromedial parietal bones from an adult. It exhibits thick cranial vault bones, arachnoid granulations, a deviated posterior sagittal suture, and a unilateral (right) parietal lacuna with a posteriorly-directed and enlarged endocranial vascular sulcus. Differential diagnosis indicates that the perforation is a congenital defect, an enlarged parietal foramen, commonly associated with cerebral venous and cranial vault anomalies. It was not lethal given the individual’s age-at-death, but it may have been associated with secondary neurological deficiencies. The fossil constitutes the oldest evidence in human evolution of this very rare condition (a single enlarged parietal foramen). In combination with developmental and degenerative abnormalities in other Pleistocene human remains, it suggests demographic and survival patterns among Pleistocene Homo that led to an elevated frequency of conditions unknown or rare among recent humans.
Highlights
As a result of the description and diagnosis of developmental and degenerative abnormalities in Pleistocene human remains, it has become evident that skeletal and dental reflections of the stresses of a Pleistocene foraging existence are ubiquitous among these remains
There has emerged a growing sample of abnormalities, not all strictly pathological, that appear collectively to be unusually common among these Pleistocene humans, given the fragmentary nature of the human fossil record and the dearth of specimens
We describe and diagnose a neurocranial variant in the early Late Pleistocene Xujiayao 11 partial cranium from northern China, an enlarged parietal foramen connecting with a wide vascular sulcus
Summary
As a result of the description and diagnosis of developmental and degenerative abnormalities in Pleistocene human remains, it has become evident that skeletal and dental reflections of the stresses of a Pleistocene foraging existence are ubiquitous among these remains. There has emerged a growing sample of abnormalities, not all strictly pathological (in the sense of affecting function), that appear collectively to be unusually common among these Pleistocene humans, given the fragmentary nature of the human fossil record and the dearth of specimens. In this context, we describe and diagnose a neurocranial variant in the early Late Pleistocene Xujiayao 11 partial cranium from northern China, an enlarged parietal foramen connecting with a wide vascular sulcus. Enlarged parietal foramina are known, if rare, among recent humans [1], they have not been previously reported among Pleistocene humans
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