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Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open
Journal article
New hominin dental remains from the Drimolen Main Quarry, South Africa (1999-2008)
American journal of biological anthropology, Vol.179(2), pp.240-260
10/2022
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Source: InCites
Abstract
Objectives
Twenty-four dental specimens from the Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ) are described. This increases the number of DMQ Paranthropus robustus specimens from 48 to 63 and DMQ Homo specimens from 8 to 12. This allows reassessment of the proposed differences between the DMQ P. robustus assemblage and that of Swartkrans. Analysis conducted assesses intraspecific and inter-locality variation.
Materials and Methods
We examined the P. robustus and early Homo assemblages from South Africa. Morphology was observed using a hand lens and a binocular microscope. Mesiodistal and buccolingual measurements were taken using plastic-tipped calipers. Summary statistics were generated and patterns of variability in P. robustus were assessed through box plots and Mann–Whitney U tests.
Results
Comparison between the expanded DMQ and Swartkrans P. robustus assemblages demonstrates overlap in size. Ten dental variables show statistically significant differences.
Discussion
The expanded P. robustus sample allowed us to re-examine previous analyses of differences in tooth size between the samples. While analyses presented here show a high degree of overlap in the MD and BL dimensions of the two assemblages, significant differences were found in the mean values of these variables in the postcanine maxillary teeth—consistent with previous analyses. Two current hypotheses may explain this pattern: 1) dental size increase through the P. robustus lineage or 2) different sample composition between the two sites. Small sample sizes for all permanent dental classes in the DMQ assemblage represents a limitation on this analysis and interpretations thereof. Any addition to the DMQ or the Swartkrans samples may alter these results.
Details
- Title
- New hominin dental remains from the Drimolen Main Quarry, South Africa (1999-2008)
- Creators
- Angeline B. Leece - La Trobe UniversityJesse M. Martin - La Trobe UniversityAndy I. R. Herries - La Trobe UniversityAlessandro Riga - University of FlorenceColin G. Menter - University of FlorenceJacopo Moggi-Cecchi - University of Florence
- Publication Details
- American journal of biological anthropology, Vol.179(2), pp.240-260
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 21
- Grant note
- Australian Archaeological Association. Grant Number: SRGS 2014 Australian Research Council. Grant Numbers: Discovery grant DP170100056, Future Fellowship grant FT120100399 Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs La Trobe University. Grant Number: IRGS
- Identifiers
- 991013140613502368
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Biological Anthropology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Open Access Funding provided by Universita degli Studi di Firenze within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article