Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth from Biache-Saint-Vaast, France

Abstract

The study of dental morphology can be a very useful tool to understand the origin and evolution of Neanderthals in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene (MP). At present, the earliest evidence, ca. 430 ka, of a pre-Neanderthal population in Europe is the hominin sample from Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos (SH) that present clear dental affinities with Neanderthals while other penecontemporaneous populations, such as Arago or Mala Balanica, exhibit less Neanderthal traits. We present the morphometric study of the external and internal dental structures of eleven hominin dental remains recovered from the MP, ca. 240 ka, French site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (BSV). Our analyses place the BSV hominins within the MP group, together with SH, Fontana Ranuccio, Visogliano, Steinheim or Montmaurin, that show greater morphological affinities with Neanderthals. Moreover, we identified interpopulation variability in the expression of the enamel thickness trait, with BSV hominins sharing the unique combination of thin and thick pattern in the premolars and molars with the SH population. These results further support the coexistence of two or more populations in Europe during the MP that reflect the population and settlement of human groups suggested by the Central Area of Dispersals of Eurasia (CADE) and sink and source model.

Endocranial anatomy of the Guercy 1 early Neanderthal from Baume Moula‐Guercy (Soyons, Ardèche, France)

“…As discussed by Mounier et al (2016), combining descriptions of the endocranial and ectocranial anatomy will lead to new insights into paleodemes and phylogeny. The delineation of paleodemes in the European Middle-to-Late Pleistocene has been a topic of discussion for over 70 years (Bräuer et al, 2020;Condemi, 1998Condemi, , 2001Condemi, , 2005Condemi et al, 2010;Hawks & Wolpoff, 2001;Howell, 1952Howell, , 1996Howell, , 1999Hublin, 2002;Martín-Francés et al, 2022;Roebroeks et al, 2011;Vandermeersch, 1987;Vandermeersch & Garralda, 2011). The important role of the MIS 5e Neanderthals from Baume Moula-Guercy in paleodeme reconstruction is brought into clearer focus given recent assessments of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA that suggest successive radiations of European Neanderthal paleodemes between the top of MIS 6 and base of MIS 5d (135 and 105 ka; Vernot et al, 2021).…”

“…Such a model of brain evolution, wherein brain structures with major anatomical and functional links evolve together independently of evolutionary changes in other structures, has been proposed by Barton and Harvey (2000). A mosaic model of evolution in Middle-to-Late Pleistocene European/Middle Eastern hominins is further supported by morphological analyses of the Sima de los Huesos paleodeme (Arsuaga et al, 1997) and the Apidima (de Lumley et al, 2020) and Biache-Saint-Vaast remains (Martín-Francés et al, 2022).…”