Middle Paleolithic human remains from the Gruta da Oliveira (Torres Novas), Portugal

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Considerations of Neandertal geographical variation have been hampered by the dearth of remains from Mediterranean Europe and the absence there of sufficiently complete associated postcrania. The 2006 and 2007 excavation of an articulated partial skeleton of a small adult female Neandertal at the Sima de las Palomas, Murcia, southeastern Spain (Sima de las Palomas 96) provides substantial and secure information on body proportions among southern European Neandertals, as well as further documenting the nature of Neandertal biology in southern Iberia. The remains exhibit a suite of cranial, mandibular, dental, and postcranial features, of both Neandertals and archaic Homo generally, that distinguish them from contemporary and subsequent early modern humans. Its lower limbs exhibit the robustness of later Pleistocene Homo generally, and its upper limbs conform to the pattern of elevated robustness of the Neandertals. Its body proportions, including relative clavicular length, distal limb segment lengths, and body mass to stature indicators, conform to the “cold-adapted” pattern of more northern Neandertals. Palomas 96 therefore documents the presence of a suite of “Neandertal” characteristics in southern Iberia and, along with its small body size, the more “Arctic” body proportions of other European Neandertals despite the warmer climate of southern Iberia during marine isotope stage 3.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Morphology, body proportions, and postcranial hypertrophy of a female Neandertal from the Sima de las Palomas, southeastern Spain

Walker

Ortega

Parmová

et al. 2011

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“…1, Fig. S1, and SI The Gruta da Aroeira Site) have yielded human remains and rich archaeological levels of the Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic as well as Early Neolithic and later prehistoric periods (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Within the Almonda karst system, the Gruta da Aroeira was first investigated from 1998-2002 (13), revealing a rich lithic assemblage with Acheulean bifaces (Fig.…”

Section: Europementioning

confidence: 99%

New Middle Pleistocene hominin cranium from Gruta da Aroeira (Portugal)

Daura

Sanz

Arsuaga

et al. 2017

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The Middle Pleistocene is a crucial time period for studying human evolution in Europe, because it marks the appearance of both fossil hominins ancestral to the later Neandertals and the Acheulean technology. Nevertheless, European sites containing well-dated human remains associated with an Acheulean toolkit remain scarce. The earliest European hominin crania associated with Acheulean handaxes are at the sites of Arago, Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos (SH), and Swanscombe, dating to 400–500 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11–12). The Atapuerca (SH) fossils and the Swanscombe cranium belong to the Neandertal clade, whereas the Arago hominins have been attributed to an incipient stage of Neandertal evolution, to Homo heidelbergensis, or to a subspecies of Homo erectus. A recently discovered cranium (Aroeira 3) from the Gruta da Aroeira (Almonda karst system, Portugal) dating to 390–436 ka provides important evidence on the earliest European Acheulean-bearing hominins. This cranium is represented by most of the right half of a calvarium (with the exception of the missing occipital bone) and a fragmentary right maxilla preserving part of the nasal floor and two fragmentary molars. The combination of traits in the Aroeira 3 cranium augments the previously documented diversity in the European Middle Pleistocene fossil record

“…Even though there are Iberian Neandertal remains that have been referred to this age (11), their purported late age has been placed in doubt (12). At present, the most recent, securely dated, diagnostic Neandertal fossil from the region is the Oliveira 1 middle manual phalanx at Ϸ43,500 cal BP (Ϸ39 ka 14 C BP) (13), about the same age as the northern Spain El Sidrón remains (7). It is in this context that we present a series of Neandertal remains from the upper levels of the Sima de la Palomas in southeastern Spain.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Neandertals in Southeastern Iberia: Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, Spain

Walker

Gibert

López

et al. 2008

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Middle Paleolithic fossil human remains from the Sima de las Palomas in southeastern Iberia (dated to <43,000 -40,000 calendar years before present) present a suite of derived Neandertal and/or retained ancestral morphological features in the mandibular symphysis, mandibular ramus, dental occlusal morphology, and distal hand phalanx. These traits are combined with variation in the mandibular corpus, discrete dental morphology, tooth root lengths, and anterior dental size that indicate a frequency difference with earlier Iberian and more northern European Neandertals. The Palomas Neandertals therefore confirm the late presence of Neandertals associated with the Iberian persistence of the Middle Paleolithic, but suggest microevolutionary processes and/or population contact with contemporaneous modern humans to the north. dentition ͉ mandible ͉ Middle Paleolithic ͉ postcrania