Abstract
Ten years ago, in CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY, Brace advanced the hypothesis that the classic Neandertals were not evolutionary dead ends, but rather represented populations that evolved into modern man. Brace's selective mechanism to account for the supposed reduction of the classic Neandertal dentition and face was founded on the assumption that the rounding wear on Neandertal incisors resulted from extensive use of these teeth as tools. In this paper, observations on incisor wear and occlusion in Bushmen, a fossil cercopithecoid, and La Ferrassie I are presented as evidence against the hypothesis that rounded wear on front teeth indicates habitual use of the teeth as tools. It is suggested that the rounded wear more likely results from contact with abrasives in the diet. The observations on tooth wear are interpreted to controvert Brace's selective mechanism for the supposed reduction of the classic Neandertal dentition and face.
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