Krapina, “Classic” Neanderthals, and the evolution of the European face

Abstract

Except for the front end of the dental arch, tooth size remained at approximately the same level throughout the Middle Pleistocene. The Krapina Neanderthals at the end of the last interglacial differed from Homo erectus only in having larger front teeth. From that time on, tooth size in populations at the northern edge of the area of human occupation in the Old World has reduced approximately in proportion to the time elapsed. The “Classic” Neanderthals of western Europe, in fact, have teeth that are 15% smaller than those of the earlier Krapina Neanderthals and only 5% larger than the early Upper Palaeolithic. Reduction since the early Upper Palaeolithic has proceeded another full 20%. It is suggested that the development of heated stone cooking in the Mousterian, originally for the purpose of thawing frozen food, reduced the forces of selection that had previously maintained tooth size during the Middle Pleistocene. The operation of the Probable Mutation Effect, then produced the observed reductions.