RT Journal Article
T1 > 42 ka human teeth from El Castillo Cave (Cantabria, Spain) Mid‑Upper Paleolithic transition
A1 Garralda Benajes, María Dolores
A1 Maíllo‑Fernández, José-Manuel
A1 Maureille, Bruno
A1 Neira, Ana
A1 Bernaldo de Quirós, Federico
AB Three deciduous tooth crowns were found in Unit 18B in El Castillo Cave (Spain), considered a transitional Middle-Upper Paleolithic Unit with numerous 14C dates with means earlier than > 42–44 ka cal. BP. Our goal was to describe these teeth, compare them to Neanderthal, Mousterian Modern Humans, and Early-Mid Upper Paleolithic fossils (through scatterplots and Z-scores), and analyze their morphology. The teeth consist of deciduous and isolated crowns (one  ULdi1, one  ULdm2, and one  LRdm2) corresponding to three children, and all of them were modified by heavy occlusal and interproximal wear. Their length and breadth diameters, shown in the bivariate scatterplots, were similar to those of the teeth of several young Neanderthals. The Z-scores of the two crown diameters with respect to the Late Neanderthal, Qafzeh and Skhul, and Aurignacian-Gravettian series had values of approximately 0, while those of the altered MDs of the  ULdm2 are just below − 1, except in comparison to the last group; the Z-scores of the BL diameters fall within the range of variability of the three series. Qualitative morphological comparisons highlighted several characteristics that were consistent with a Neanderthal taxonomic assignment. The combined archeological and anatomical-comparative study suggested the presence of three Neanderthal children in Unit 18, in a location considered a primary butchery area. The chronology and morphology of these teeth in the framework of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition are outstanding in the debate about the last Neanderthals and the unconfirmed, but possible, presence of a few groups of modern humans in Western Europe.
PB Springer
SN 1866-9557
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88888
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88888
LA eng
NO Garralda, MD., Maíllo-Fernández, JM., Maureille, B. et al.  > 42 ka human teeth from El Castillo Cave (Cantabria, Spain) Mid-Upper Paleolithic transition. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 14, 126 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-022-01587-2
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 7 abr 2025