New evidence on the transitional period between Neanderthal and modern man

Abstract

One of the central problems of the Neanderthals is their assumed sudden disappearance from the fossil record about 35,000 years ago, and the subsequent, equally sudden appearance of anatomically modern man. Fossils supporting the assumption of a more continuous transitional phase have been missing hitherto. Particularly interesting in this context is a new fossil frontal bone which was found in 1973 in glacial sands of the Elbe river at Hahnöfer-sand near Hamburg. It was absolutely dated to ca 36,000 years B.P. The fossil was extensively studied and compared with a large number of Neanderthals, Upper Paleolithic hominids and with some of the intermediate hominids from Palestine as Skhūl and Qafzeh. Principal component analysis as well as multivariate distance measurements show strong affinities between Hahnöfersand and Neanderthals such as La Ferrassie and Amud I. In contrast to the Neanderthaloid frontal profile, the morphology of the supraorbital region of Hahnöfersand mainly shows modern features. There is no continuous torus; the very robust glabella and superciliary arches are well defined. Altogether Hahnöfersand provides us perhaps with the first concrete indication of a hybridization phase between both groups in Western Europe.