Hominid Bones Research Articles

Pleistocene sedimentary facies of the Gran Dolina archaeo-paleoanthropological site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

Abstract Gran Dolina is a cavity infill of the Sierra de Atapuerca, containing three important Early and Middle Pleistocene archaeo-paleontological layers, including hominid bones, fauna and lithic remains. Due to the relevance of this site to understand human evolution in Europe, it is essential to define in detail the sedimentary processes and environments associated with the archaeological remains. Gran Dolina has a 19 m thick sedimentary infill divided into 11 lithostratigraphic units. In this work, we describe the sedimentary facies of the Early and Middle Pleistocene units and we update its stratigraphy. For that purpose, we have studied the stratigraphic excavation profiles available, where we have combined field observations with laboratory sedimentary analysis (sieving, laser diffraction, and image analysis) to characterize the texture and structure of the sediments. Through these studies, 19 sedimentary facies have been distinguished, grouped as sediment gravity flow facies, fluvial facies and autochthonous facies. The facies associations indicate two main trends in the allochthonous sequence. During the Early Pleistocene (TD4–TD7), the cavity acted as a stream sink, where channel and floodplain facies migrated along the sequence, and were interbedded with lateral gravity sediment flows. On the other hand, the Middle Pleistocene sequence between TD7 and TD10 is dominated almost exclusively by gravity flows. At least three main entrances have been inferred from input directions of the sediments, which changed over time. Sediment characteristics have allowed us to preliminarily infer environmental conditions around the cavity.

What Is the Hobbit?

Who—or what—is Homo floresiensis? The tiny hominid bones, which a joint Australian-Indonesian team unearthed in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores, have quickly become as celebrated (and derided) as any find in the tempestuous history of human paleontology. The mystery that shrouds these ancient skeletons, nicknamed hobbits after the diminutive characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels, seems to deepen with every study published. Two main camps have emerged, each certain they can settle the question. But many other paleoanthropologists confess they still have no idea.

Skullduggery

When a team of Indonesian and Australian palaeontologists discovered a nearly complete but very strange 18,000‐year‐old human skeleton in an Indonesian cave in 2003, the find provoked questions about modern human origins. Do these ancient bones belong to a new human species? Are they, as many have claimed, the most important find in hominid palaeontology for decades? Or is this creature—indelibly christened ‘the Hobbit’ because it is so tiny—simply one of an isolated people who suffered from a deforming malady? The huge stakes in this competitive, caustic debate can be summed up succinctly: money and fame. But Hobbit investigations may eventually have less impact on the study of human evolution than they do on the standing of palaeoanthropology, and on the continuing crusade against the Darwinian account of how life on Earth evolved. > …Hobbit investigations may eventually have less impact on the study of human evolution than they do on the standing of palaeoanthropology… The bizarre story so far: In 2003, a joint Indonesian–Australian team, digging in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, found hominid bones and a nearly complete skeleton. The skeleton, designated LB1, was childishly tiny, but tooth wear showed the hominid to have been aged about 30 at death. In 2004 at the same site, the team uncovered another mandible and more bones and bone fragments, from a total of eight individuals. Dates inferred indirectly from materials around the finds range from about 94,000 to 12,000 years ago. This suggests that the hominids lived there for a very long time, overlapping with fully modern Homo sapiens on Flores for many thousands of years. LB1 was declared female and dated at 18,000 years old. ![][1] In 2004, Nature published the 2003 discovery to unprecedented commotion (Brown et al , 2004; Morwood et al , 2004). The authors … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif

Skeptic to Take Possession of Flores Hominid Bones

PALEOANTHROPOLOGYA leading Indonesian paleoanthropologist who questions whether a tiny 18,000-year-old hominid found on the island of Flores is really a new species plans to take at least temporary possession of the skeleton and similar hominid remains by the end of November.

Taphonomy of the fossil hominid bones from the Acheulean site of Castel di Guido near Rome, Italy

Castel di Guido near Rome is one of the few open air Middle Pleistocene European sites that has yielded hominid skeletal remains associated with fossil fauna and Acheulean implements. The fossil hominid bones include two femoral shafts, respectively designated Castel di Guido-1 (CdG-1) and CdG-2, an occipital fragment (CdG-3), a right maxilla lacking teeth (CdG-4), a portion of right parietal (CdG-5), a right temporal (CdG-6), and a fragment of left parietal vault (CdG-7). CdG-1 through CdG-4 were collected in 1979–1982 on the surface, together with fossil fauna, where ploughing incised fossiliferous tuffaceous sands. Excavations conducted in the same area from 1980 to 1990 led to the discovery of CdG-5, CdG-6 and CdG-7 within the tuffaceous sands, which were shown to overlay a bone-bearing paleosurface, with abundant evidence of hominid activities. The Castel di Guido hominid assemblage poses intriguing taphonomic questions. The analysis of the physical evidence offered by the bone surfaces, reported in the present study, indicates that the hominid skeletal remains were heavily fragmented before fossilization and exposed to carnivores and rodents, as well as to trampling and/or friction in abrasive sediment. Although definitive conclusions cannot be reached on the basis of the available evidene, it is possible that clusters of incisions localized on specific regions of the Castel di Guido fossil hominid bones might reflect deliberate human manipulations.

Hominid Bones: Old and Firm at 3.75 Million

Hominid Bones: Old and Firm at 3.75 Million