A Neandertal foot phalanx from the Galería de las Estatuas site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

Abstract

ObjectivesThe Galería de las Estatuas site (GE), a new Mousterian site at the Sierra de Atapuerca site complex (Spain), has revealed a Late Pleistocene detrital sequence with at least five lithostratigraphic units. These units have yielded evidence of Mousterian occupations with sporadic carnivore activity, and have provided datings of 80–112 ka BP using single‐grain optically stimulated luminescence. This places the sequence at the end of MIS5 and beginning of the MIS4. We described here a complete adult human distal foot phalanx (GE‐1573) recovered during the 2017 field season in the interface between lithostratigraphic units 3 and 4 (107–112 ka BP) in the GE‐I test pit.Materials and methodThis phalanx (GE‐1573) probably corresponds to the fifth toe from the right side due to the medial deviation of the distal tuberosity. We compared the metric variables of this phalanx to several fossil and recent Homo samples.ResultsNeandertals display foot phalanges that are broader and more robust than those of recent humans. Despite the scarcity of well‐identified distal phalanges in the Homo fossil record, the GE‐1573 phalanx is broad, long and robust when compared with recent and Upper Paleolithic modern humans.DiscussionThese traits, which align the GE‐1573 foot phalanx with the Neandertal morphology, are consistent with the stratigraphic context, likely corresponding to one of the oldest Late Neandertals found inland on the Iberian Peninsula. Additionally, it provides the first evidence of a Neandertal human fossil in a stratigraphic context in the Sierra de Atapuerca.

Atapuerca Neanderthal landscape at Fuente Mudarra site in Burgos, Spain, during Marine Isotope Stages 5–3

“…Three caves dug in recent years, Galería de las Estatuas in Cueva Mayor (Arsuaga et al, 2017; Demuro et al, 2018; Pablos et al, 2019), Cueva Fantasma, and La Paredeja (see Fig. 1), complete the record from the late Pleistocene, which provides evidence of the presence of Homo neanderthalensis in Atapuerca.…”

Metatarsals and foot phalanges from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

“…Several Homo fossil samples have been used for metric and morphological comparisons of the SH metatarsal and phalanges (see Arsuaga et al, 2014;Pablos et al, 2012Pablos et al, , 2014Pablos et al, , 2017Pablos, G omez-Olivencia, & Arsuaga, 2019a;Pablos, G omez-Olivencia, Maureille, et al, 2019b;Pablos, Martínez, et al, 2013b;Pomeroy et al, 2017;Trinkaus et al, 2014 for details), mainly focusing on Neandertal and early modern human samples. The data sources are mainly bibliographic, but some original specimens/ samples have been measured and studied by the authors (e.g., La Ferrassie, La Chapelle-Aux-Saints, Tabun, Jarama VI, Regourdou, Cro-Magnon, Gough's Cave, Abri Pataud, Skhul 9, TD6-H. antecessor, etc.).…”

Taphonomic skeletal disturbances in the Sima de los Huesos postcranial remains

“…Small hand and foot bones, such as carpals, tarsals, or tiny sesamoids or distal phalanges, are rarely recovered from paleoanthropological sites (Lorenzo et al, 2015;Pablos, 2015). They are not even well preserved in deliberate burial contexts (Pablos et al, 2019). The carpal bones are generally complete, except for those with slight erosion of the spongy tissue due to their fragility during the diagenetic processes.…”