Abstract
Despite numerous sites of great antiquity having been excavated since the end of the 19th century, Middle Pleistocene human fossils are still extremely rare in northwestern Europe. Apart from the two partial crania from Biache-Saint-Vaast in northern France, all known human fossils from this period have been found from ten sites in either Germany or England. Here we report the discovery of three long bones from the same left upper limb discovered at the open-air site of Tourville-la-Rivière in the Seine Valley of northern France. New U-series and combined US-ESR dating on animal teeth produced an age range for the site of 183 to 236 ka. In combination with paleoecological indicators, they indicate an age toward the end of MIS 7. The human remains from Tourville-la-Rivière are attributable to the Neandertal lineage based on morphological and metric analyses. An abnormal crest on the left humerus represents a deltoid muscle enthesis. Micro- and or macro-traumas connected to repetitive movements similar to those documented for professional throwing athletes could be origin of abnormality.
Highlights
In Western Europe, Early and Middle Pleistocene sites that have produced human fossils generally reflect an earlier settlement of the Mediterranean region compared to northern Europe [1
Three left upper limb diaphyseal sections, most likely belonging to a single individual, were found in September 2010 during rescue excavations of this Middle Pleistocene site. This new find provides insight concerning the relationship of the Tourville remains to other Middle Pleistocene human fossils [12,21,22,23,24]
Rescue excavations at the site of Tourville-La-Riviere produced substantial lithic and faunal material as well as a left humerus, ulna and radius belonging to the same individual and attributable to the Neandertal lineage
Summary
In Western Europe, Early and Middle Pleistocene sites that have produced human fossils generally reflect an earlier settlement of the Mediterranean region compared to northern Europe [1–11], despite the number of both recent and previous finds (Figure 1) coming from Germany [12,13,14] or England [15,16]. We have applied U-series analyses on the human bones and combined US-ESR dating on faunal teeth to refine the chronology of Tourville-la-Riviere. As with the faunal remains, the lithic artefacts are spread across the excavated area, separate from a small 9 m2 zone that represents a knapping concentration (Figure S3 in File S1).
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