A re-examination of a human femur found at the Blind River Site, East London, South Africa: Its age, morphology, and breakage pattern

• Authors: Qian Wang , Phillip V. Tobias , David L. Roberts , Zenobia Jacobs

Abstracts

EN

Modern human femoral features might have appeared in the early Middle Stone Age (156 ka to 20 ka) in South Africa, as demonstrated by the recent re-examination of a human femur fossil found at the Blind River Site, East London in the 1930s, if new dating results hold. Two optically stimulated luminescence dates from the relocated original Blind River shallow marine/estuarine deposits that contained the femur gave almost identical ages of ~120 ka, corresponding to the early part of the Last Interglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 5). Overall, the slender headless femur is of modern human form. The distal epiphysis bears some typical squatting features, including a newly recognized squatting facet on the anterior wall of the intercondylar fossa. With the typical V-shaped and oblique fracture pattern left by the missing head, the Blind River femur was most likely modified through human activity. But this style is not a cultural trait found in recent South African people. Further study is needed to place this specimen in its due context in the course of human evolution.

PL

Kość udowa z Blind River została odkryta w East London (Afryka Południowa) w 1933 r., pozostawała jednak niezauważona w literaturze, mimo, że znaleziska takich sfosylizowanych kości zdarzają się rzadko, a ich znaczenie dla badań pochodzenia człowieka jest duże. Przyczyną tego było niepewne datowanie znaleziska, przeszkodę tę jednak ostatnio udało się pokonać dzięki zastosowaniu metody stymulowanej optycznie luminescencji (OSL). Datowanie OSL estuaryjnych osadów, z których pochodzi kość, wskazuje na wiek około 120 tys. lat, co odpowiada początkowej fazie ostatniego interglacjału.Kość udowa z Blind River, w stanie, w jakim się zachowała, nie wskazuje żadnych, nawet drobnych różnic w stosunku do dzisiejszego człowieka. Jej nowoczesne cechy i lokalizacja geograficzna potwierdzają związek nowoczesnych populacji ludzkich z południową Afryką. Omawiana kość ma bardzo smukły trzon. Jest ona pozbawiona głowy, a jej dalsza nasada wykazuje typowe dla nawykowego kucania cechy, w tym pogłębiony dół dla rzepki i głęboki dół międzykłykciowy. Trzon kości jest przełamany, a powierzchnia przełomu jest niezerodowana i ma ostre krawędzie. Brzeg złamania wykazuje cechy charakterystyczne dla złamania świeżej kości i nosi ślady modyfikacji na skutek działania człowieka. Modyfikacja ta jednak nie przypomina jakichkolwiek znanych kulturowych zabiegów dokonywanych przez ludy Afryki południowej. Jeśli zaakceptujemy wiek geologiczny kości z Blind River, mamy do czynienia z zasadniczo nowoczesną kością ze śladami modyfikacji dokonanych ludzką ręką już w czasach ostatniego interglacjału lub środkowej epoki kamiennej (MSA), tj. 156-20 tys. lat temu.

Keywords

EN

femur; squatting facet; Middle Stone Age

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Anthropological Review
• Year: 2008
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 43-61

Contributors

author

Qian Wang

• Division of Basic Medical Sciences, Mercer University School of Medicine, 1550 College Street, Macon, GA 31207, USA

author

Phillip V. Tobias

• School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Parktown 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa

author

David L. Roberts

• Council for Geoscience, PO Box 572, Bellville, South Africa

author

Zenobia Jacobs

• School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia

References

• Adamiec G., M. J. Aitken, 1998,Dose-rate conversion factors: update, Ancient TL,16, 37-49
• Aitken M. J., 1985,Thermoluminescence Dating, Academic Press, London
• Aitken, M. J., 1998,An Introduction to Optical Dating, Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Bartram L. E., C. W. Marrean, 1999,Explaining the Klasies Pattern: Kua Ethoarchaeology, the Die Kelders Middle Stone Age Archaeofauna, Long Bone Fragmentation and Carnivore Ravaging,J. Archaeol. Sci.,26, 9-29
• Binford L. R., 1981,Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths, Academic Press, Orlando
• Blumenshine R. J., 1988,An Experimental Model of the Timing of Hominid and Carnivore Influence on Archaeological Bone Assemblages,J. Archaeol. Sci.,15, 483-502
• Brain C. K., 1981,The hunters or the hunted? - An introduction to African Cave Taphonomy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London
• Boulle E.-L., 2001a,Evolution of two human skeletal markers of the squatting position: A diachronic study from antiquity to the modern age,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol,115, 50-56
• Boulle E.-L., 2001b,Osteological features associated with ankle hyperdorsiflexion,Int. J. Osteoarchaeol.,11, 345-349
• Cameron J., 1934,The skeleton of British Neolithic man, Williams & Norgate, London
• Dart R. A., 1957,The osteodontokeratic culture of Australopithecus prometheus. Transvaal Museum Memoirs, No. 10, Pretoria
• Day M. H., 1971,Postcranial remains ofHomo erectusfrom bed IV, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania,Nature,232, 383-387
• Day M. H., R. E. F. Leakey, A. C. Walker, B. A. Wood, 1975,New hominids from East Rudolf, Kenya, I,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,42, 461-475
• Deacon H. J., 1966,The dating of the Nahoon footprints,S. Afr. J. Sci.,62, 111-113
• Ericksen M. F., 1979,Aging changes in the medullary cavity of the proximal femur in American Blacks and Whites,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,51, 563-569
• Feldesman M. R., J. K. Lundy, 1988,Stature estimates for some African Plio-Pleistocene fossil hominids,J. Hum. Evol.,17, 583-596
• Galloway A., 1959,The skeletal remains of Bambandyanalo, Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg
• Grine F. E., W. L. Jungers, P. V. Tobias, O. M. Pearson, 1995,FossilHomofemur from Berg Aukas, Northern Namibia,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,97, 151-185
• Grine F. E., R. M. Bailey, K. Harvati, R. P. Nathan, A. G. Morris, G. M. Henderson, I. Ribot, A. W. G. Pike, 2007,Late Pleistocene Human Skull from Hofmeyr, South Africa, and Modern Human Origins,Science,315, 226-229
• Jacobs Z., D. L. Roberts, in press,Last Interglacial Age for aeolian and marine deposits and the Nahoon Fossil Human Footprints, Southeast Coast of South Africa, Quaternary Geochronology
• Jacobs Z., A. G. Wintle, G. A. T. Duller, 2003,Optical dating of dune sand from Blombos Cave, South Africa: I - multiple grain data,J. Hum. Evol.,44, 599-612
• Johnson, E., 1985,Current developments in bone technology, [in]Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, M. B. Schiffer (ed.), vol.8, Academic Press, New York, pp. 157-235
• Kennedy, G. E., 1983a,Some aspects of femoral morphology inHomo erectus,J. Hum. Evol.,12, 587-616
• Kennedy, G. E., 1983b,A morphometric and taxonomic assessment of a hominine femur from the lower member, Koobi Fora, Lake Turkana,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,61, 429-436
• Kennedy, K., 1989,Skeletal markers of occupational stress, [in:]Reconstruction of life from the skeleton, M. Y. Iscan & K. A. R. Kennedy (eds.), Alan R. Liss, New York, pp. 129-160
• Laidler P. W., 1933,Dating evidence concerning the Middle Stone ages and a Capsio-Wilton culture, in the South-East Cape,S. Afr. J. Sci.,30, 530-542
• Le Roux F. G., 1991,Lithostratigraphy of the Salnova Formation (Algoa Group), South African Committee for Stratigraphy Lithostratigraphic Series 11, Geological Survey of South Africa, Pretoria
• Lordkipanidze D., T. Jashashvili, A. Vekua, M. S. Ponce De Leon, C. P. Zollikofer, G. P. Rightmire, H. Pontzer, R. Ferring, O. Oms, M. Tappen, M. Bukhsianidze, J. Agusti, R. Kahlke, G. Kiladze, B. Martinez-Navarro, A. Mouskhelishvili, M. Nioradze, L. Rook, 2007,Postcranial evidence from earlyHomofrom Dmanisi, Georgia,Nature,449, 305-310
• Lovejoy C. O., R. S. Meindl, J. C. Ohman, K. G. Heiple, T. D. White, 2002,The Maka femur and its bearing on the antiquity of human walking: Applying contemporary concepts of morphogenesis to the human fossil record,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,119, 97-133
• Lundy J. K., 1983,Skeletal aspects of metrical and morphological infracranial skeletal variation in the South African Negro, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
• Lyman R. L., 1987,Archaeofaunas and Butchery Studies: A Taphonomic Perspective, [in:]Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, M. B. Schiffer (ed.), vol. 10, Academic Press, New York, pp. 249-337
• Martin C. P., 1932,Some variations in the lower end of the femur which are especially relevant in the bones of primitive people,J. Anat.,29, 371-383
• McCown T. D., A. Keith, 1939,The stone age of Mount Carmel: the fossil human remains from the Levalloiso-Mousterian, vol. 2, Oxford, Claredon Press
• McHenry H. M., R. S. Corruccini, 1978.The femur in early human evolution,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,49, 473-488
• Mitchell P. J., 2000,The Quaternary archaeological record in Southern Africa, [in:]The Cenozoic of South Africa, T. C. Partridge & R. R. Maud (eds.), Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 356-370
• Morlan R. E., 1984,Toward the definition of criteria for the recognition of artificial bone alterations,Quaternary Res.,22, 160-171
• Oakley K., B. Campbell, T. Molleson, 1977,Catalogue of Fossil Hominids: Part I Africa, British Museum (Natural History), London
• Pearson O. M., D. F. Royer, F. E. Grine, J. G. Fleagle, 2008,A description of the Omo I postcranial skeleton, including newly discovered fossils,J. Hum. Evol.,55, 421-437
• Pickering T. R., M. Domínguez-Rodrigo, C. P. Egeland, C. K. Brain, 2004,The contribution of limb bone fracture patterns to reconstructing early hominid behaviour at Swartkrans cave (South Africa): Archaeological application of a new analytical method,Int. J. Osteoarchaeol,15, 247-260
• Prescott J. R., J. T. Hutton, 1994,Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations,Radiation Measurements,23, 497-500
• Ruff C. B., 2008,Femoral/humeral strength in early AfricanHomo erectus,J. Hum. Evol.54, 383-390
• Ruff C. B., In press,Relative limb strength and locomotion inHomo habilis, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.
• Ruff C. B., A. Walker, 1993,Body size and body shape, [in:]The NariokotomeHomo erectusSkeleton, A. Walker & R. Leakey (eds), Harvard University Press, pp. 234-265
• Shackelford L. L., E. Trinkaus, 2002,Late Pleistocene human femoral diaphyseal curvature,Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.,118, 359-370
• Shackleton N. J., 2000,The 100,000-Year ice-age cycle identified and found to lag temperature, carbon dioxide and orbital eccentricity,Science,289, 1897-1901
• Shackleton N. J., N. G. Pisias, 1985,Atmospheric carbon dioxide, orbital forcing, and climate, [in:]The Carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2: Natural variations Archean to present, E. T. Sundquist & W. S. Broeker (eds.),Geophysical Monograph,32, 412-417
• Shea J. J., 2008,The Middle Stone Age archaeology of the Lower Omo Valley Kibish Formation: Excavations, lithic assemblages, and inferred patterns of earlyHomo sapiensbehavior,J. Hum. Evol.,55, 448-485
• Tobias P. V., K. Copley, C. K. Brain, 1977,South Africa.[in:]Catalogue of Fossil Hominids, Part I: Africa, 2nd edition, K. P. Oakley, B. G. Campbell & T. I. Molleson (eds.), British Museum (Natural History), London, pp. 95-151
• Tobias P. V., D. Netscher, 1977,Reversal of the usual secular trend, as evidenced by South African Negro crania and femora,Sonderabdruck aus Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien,103, 233-239
• Trinkaus E., 1975,Squatting among the Neanderthals: a problem in the behavioural interpretation of skeletal morphology,J. Archaeol. Sci.,2, 327-351
• Trinkaus E., 1993,A note on the KNM-ER 999 hominid femur,J. Hum. Evol.,24, 493-504
• Vallois H. V., H. L. Movius, 1952,Catalogue des hommes fossiles, INQUA
• Villa P., E. Mahieu, 1991,Breakage patterns of human long bones,J. Hum. Evol.,21, 27-48
• Walker A., R. Leakey, 1993.The postcranial bones, [in:]The NariokotomeHomo erectusSkeleton, A. Walker & R. Leakey (eds), Harvard University Press, pp. 95-160
• Wang Q., L. Sun, P. V. Tobias, 2005,Position of minimum shaft breadth in modern human femora,Przeglad Anthropologiczny - Anthropological Review,68, 77-82
• Weidenreich F., 1941,The extremity bones ofSinanthropus pekinensis, Palaeontologia Sinica, New Series D, No. 5
• Wells L. H., 1935,A fossilized human femur from East London, C. P.,S. Afr. J. Sci.,32, 596-600
• Wolpoff M., 1996,Human Evolution 1996-1997 Edition, McGraw Hill, New York
• Woo J. K., 1959,Human fossils found in Liukiang, Kwangsi, China,Vertebrata PalAsiatica,3, 109-118

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10044-008-0009-1