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In the present study the course of the squamotympanic fissure of the mandibular fossa is examined in several fossil hominid specimens. While previous work by several authors had found that the course of this fissure was potentially autapomorphic for the Ngandong and Sambungmacan fossil samples from Indonesia, a more recent study performed by Delson et al. (Anat Rec 2001; 262:380 -397) reported that a number of other fossils, including OH 9, Sangiran 4 and 17, and KNM WT 15000 were similar to the Ngandong and Sambungmacan specimens in the expression of this feature. To test these findings, those specimens purported to share similarities with Ngandong and Sambungmacan were examined. The results of this study indicate clearly differing morphologies between the Ngandong and Sambungmacan fossils, on the one hand, and the four African Key words: Ngandong; Sambungmacan; Homo erectus; Indonesia; Java; fossil; squamotympanic fissureThe Sambungmacan 3 specimen (Sm 3) was first excavated in 1977 near the village of Poloyo in Central Java, Indonesia, and later resurfaced in New York City before being returned to Indonesian authorities (Boedhihartono, 1998; Márquez et al., 2001). The discovery of a new hominid fossil from Java is always a boon for scientists, but this specimen is particularly important for the elucidation of later human evolution in Southeast Asia. The interest in this specimen stems from its overall similarity to the Ngandong fossils (Mowbray et al., 2000; Márquez et al., 2001, Delson et al., 2001), a sample many scientists have proposed to be intermediate between earlier Javan Homo erectus and later Homo sapiens from Australia (Thorne and Wolpoff, 1981;Wolpoff et al., 1984;Wolpoff, 1989Wolpoff, , 1992Wolpoff, , 1999. This notion has been questioned by other scientists, who instead perceive the Asian record as one of stasis, with no evidence of a morphological transformation in the direction of modern humans (Rightmire 1981(Rightmire , 1986(Rightmire , 1990(Rightmire , 1996Stringer, 1989Stringer, , 1992Stringer, , 1994.In their examination of the Sm 3 specimen, Delson and colleagues (2001) note that the Ngandong fossils, including those from Sambungmacan, possess a very distinctive morphology of the mandibular fossa. In the Ngandong specimens the squamotympanic fissure (called the "Glaserian fissure" by Weidenreich (1951)) lies entirely along the roof of the fossa, and the fossa itself is deep but anteroposteriorly narrow. In their comparison of the Ngandong and Sambungmacan morphology to a series of other Asian and African H. erectus specimens, Delson and colleagues (2001) claimed that several other specimens from Indonesia and Africa reflect a similar pattern in the mandibular fossa. A closer look at the specimens involved in this comparison would be helpful in determining the degree to which these specimens share this unique morphology. The purpose of this brief review is to examine their findings.

Tooth avulsion is the intentional removal of one or more teeth for ritual or aesthetic reasons, or to denote group affiliation. Typically the maxillary incisors are the teeth most often selected for removal. Previous authors have discussed the presence of tooth avulsions in several individuals recovered from Roonka, but those papers did not examine any patterns in those removals that might be present. Analysis of the tooth avulsions at Roonka reveals a change in the practice over time, with the older burials from phase II typically showing removal of both maxillary central incisors with a left side bias when only one tooth is removed, and the more recent phase III burials showing only one incisor avulsed and a right side bias for removal. Frequencies in the practice also changed over time, with avulsions being much more common in the older phase II burials. Historical evidence suggests that any particular regional or social group would have its own particular pattern of tooth avulsion, so these changes in tooth avulsions at Roonka suggest that the site was either used by multiple groups of people for burials, or that there was significant cultural change during the occupation of the site. Am J Phys Anthropol 154:479-485,