Moscow University
Anthropology
Bulletin
Anthropology
Bulletin
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Anuchin Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Mokhovaya St, 11, Moscow, 125009, Russia
Vorontsova Elena L., PhD: ID ORCID: 0000-0002-7817-7274; elena.l.vorontsova@gmail.com.
In the current study we attempt to analyze several findings of Neanderthals in terms of their classification based on individual variability of the modern man mandible. 417 mandibles of modern man (302 male and 115 female), and six mandibles of paleanthrops were analyzed. The collection of modern man included Mongoloid series (Hokiens, southeast China, early 20 century; Hylams, island Hainan, China, early 20 century; Eskimo from Ekven, 4-7 cen. AD; Eskimo from Naukan, 19-20 cen. AD) and Caucasoid series (Anglo-Saxon from Dunstable, 5-6 cen. AD; Ancient Egyptian series, IX dynasty; series of Badari culture, Egypt, 5-3 cen. BC; Tamils, India and Ceylon, early 20 century). Neanderthal male jaws was Krapina J (Krapina 59), La Chapelle aux Saints, La Ferrassie, Skhul IV, Skhul V, and Tabun II. Female Neanderthal jaws was Montmorin, Tabun I. We included five measurements of mandible in our study and examined them by a method of principal component analysis (PC) with computation of their individual values. The measurements were: M-65 (condylar width), M-66 (the angular width), M-69 (the height of the symphysis), M-70 (the height of the jaw branches), M-79 (the angle of the jaw branch). Individual PC values for Neanderthals were calculated from equations obtained for the modern man. For the modern man mandible male collection we chose the first and the second PC values which describe 69% of a total variability. The area of the large PC_1 values is occupied by Eskimos series characterized by massive jaws (large latitude and symphysis height values). Groups from tropical regions, such as Ancient Egypt and India, take an opposite pole of distribution. Their PC_2 values are negatively correlated with the height of the jaw branches and positively with its angle. In the range of minimum PC_2 values of the computed map are located jaws with short, vertically oriented branches (Eskimos), and the opposite pole occupy jaws with high and inclined branch (Anglo-Saxon). In the distribution of modern groups in terms of PC_1 values we find a distinct environmental gradient in the South-North direction. Neanderthal jaws are very massive which makes them similar to the Eskimo series. Their branches are very high and oriented vertically, exceeding the PC_2 values of the mandibles from the Anglo-Saxons series. The minimal distance between the Neanderthals centroids and groups of Homo sapiens (Anglo-Saxon) is 2.9. It exceeds the maximal distance between the series of a modern man, 2.45 between Badari and Eskimo from Naukan. In the case of joint male and female jaws analysis the relative groups positioning is maintained. The values for both PC values for Tabun I and Montmoren jaws, which are defined as female, are found to be very similar. This observation may be an indication of a lack in assessment of the variability characteristics of Neanderthals females and erroneous attribution of massive female bones to male group. The problem of taxonomic differentiation of paleoanthropological material is related to the lack of clear understanding of the limits of individual fossil taxon variability. The proposed method of extinct forms analysis, based on the intraspecific variation of a modern type, provides a more successful pathway to solve such problems. Our study showed that Neanderthals are a homogeneous group. The peculiar morphology of the mandible of Neanderthals when compared to modern humans is so specific that it may be indicative of differences of species level.
anthropology, mandible, Neanderthals, Homo sapiens, variability, principal component analysis
Цит.: Vorontsova E.L. Position of Neanderthals in the coordinate map of a modern man (a mandibular study by a method of a principal component analysis) // Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin (Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seria XXIII. Antropologia), 2016; 1/2016; с. 54-62
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