7th Annual Meeting of the

European Society for the study of Human Evolution

21-23 September 2017LEIDEN / THE NETHERLANDS

EditorsMike Plavcan University of Arkansas, USA

David M. Alba Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain

Special Issues EditorSarah Elton Durham University, UK

The Journal of Human Evolution concentrates on publishing the highest quality papers covering all aspects of human evolution. The central focus is aimed jointly at palaeoanthropological work, covering human and primate fossils, and at comparative studies of living species, including both morphological and molecular evidence. These include descriptions of new discoveries, interpretative analyses of new and previously described material, and assessments of the phylogeny and palaeobiology of primate species.

Journal of Human Evolution

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ELS-JA-JrnlHumanEvolution-A4-Jul17-HighResCrops.indd 1 24/07/2017 13:35

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European Society for the study of Human Evolution ESHE

7th Annual MeetingLeiden, The Netherlands, 21st-23rd Sept. 2017

Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution Vol. 6

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Cover image: Homo erectus holotype cranium and shell engraving, Trinil, Indonesia (Dubois Collection, Naturalis, Leiden, The Netherlands)Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution Vol. 6Citation: PESHE 6, 2017© 2017 European Society for the study of Human EvolutionAll rights reserved

PESHE 6 compiled and designed by Mikaela LuiCover and Logo Design by Joanne Porck

ISSN 2195-0776 (Print)ISSN 2195-0784 (Online)

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President's Welcome Letter

ESHE Board and Supporting Institutions

Leiden University

Venues

Excursion : Naturalis Biodiversity Centre

Public Lecture

Conference Schedule

Poster Numbers

Abstracts

Index

ESHE • Contents

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

XII

XVIII

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222

169

Abstracts

Poster Presentation Number 28, Fr (12:15-14:15)

The tempo of the accumulation of hominins from Sima de los Huesos

Nohemi Sala1,2, Juan Luis Arsuaga2, Ana Pantoja-Pérez2,1, Adrián Pablos3,1,2, Ignacio Martínez1,2

1 - Grupo de Bioacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (BEP). Departamento de CC. de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá · 2 -Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos · 3 - Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre EvoluciónHumana

The hominin fossils recovered at the Sima de los Huesos (SH) Middle Pleistocene site (Atapuerca, Burgos) represent an Europeanpopulation that evolved into theNeandertals [1]. Recent geological, taphonomic and forensic studies allowus to rule out geologicaltransport [2], carnivore activity [3]) or accidental falls [4,5] as explaining the presence of human bones in the SH site. So, the onlyhypothesis that cannot be rejected is the intentional accumulation of at least 28 bodies at the site by other hominins. Althoughwe were able to rule out non-anthropic scenarios for the bones accumulation, the significant implications of funerary behavior430,000 years ago make it necessary to understand the tempo and modo of this ancient behavior. At the SH site, the homininbodies are not found in their original position, and the bones are generally found mixed together in the sedimentary matrix of themain chamber, making it difficult to associate different skeletal parts. Given this manner of deposition, many of the usual criteriafor identifying burials are not applicable here. Nevertheless, the study of the spatial distribution of the remains can provide us withvaluable information about whether the accumulation of bodies was synchronous (i.e. a single event) or whether they arrived atdifferent times. This is very important because if the arrival of corpses to the site was asynchronous in time, this would indicate arecurrent behavior in this Middle Pleistocene population.

Systematic excavations at Sima de los Huesos site started in 1984. Each bone fragment in the collection was spatially locatedin the site relying on the X, Y and Z excavation coordinates (using local references during the first excavation campaigns and TotalStation techniques in the more recent years). Every single fossil has been drawn in the excavation maps to a scale 1:1. This study isfocused on the cranial collection, composed of more than 1,850 bone fragments. Of these, 565 cranial fragments have been fittedtogether to form 17 individual crania [5].

The analysis of the spatial distribution of SH crania revealed different patterns of spatial distribution: crania with dry bonefractures and scattered from the foot of the vertical shaft, slope to the bottom of the site, mixed with fractured crania in situ with-out anymovement of the fragments.This indicates that when the fossil-bearing sediments carried the human remains “down slope”gravitationally, from the base of the vertical shaft to the main chamber, there were varying degrees of soft tissue decomposition inthe different individuals. These data suggest that the accumulation of cadavers at the SH site was asynchronous, at least with regardto the timescale of cadaver decomposition, and thus, would indicate a recurrent funerary behavior in this Middle Pleistocene pop-ulation.

The authors wish to thank to the Atapuerca research and excavation team, especially those involved in the excavations at the Sima de los Huesos site. Field work at the Sierra de Atapuerca sites wasfinanced by the Junta de Castilla y León and the Fundación Atapuerca. The research was funded by the MINECO project CGL2015-65387-C3-2-P (MINECO/FEDER) and Fundación Atapuerca (Grantsto APP in 2015 and 2017 and Postdoctoral grant to NS in 2014).

References:[1] Arsuaga, J.L., Martínez, I., Arnold, L.J., Aranburu, A., Gracia, A., Sharp, W.D., Quam, R., Falguères, C., Pantoja, A., Bischoff, J., Poza-Rey, E., Parés, J.M., Carretero, J.M., Demuro, M.,Lorenzo, C., Sala, N., Martinón-Torres, M., García, N., Alcázar de Velasco, A., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Moreno, D., Pablos, A., Shen, C.C., Rodríguez, L., Ortega, A.I., García, R.,Bonmatí, A., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Carbonell, E., 2014. Neandertal roots: Cranial and chronological evidence from Sima de los Huesos. Science 344, 1358-1363 [2] Aranburu, A., Arsuaga, J.L., Sala,N., 2017. The stratigraphy of the Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain) and implications for the origin of the fossil hominin accumulation. Quaternary International 433, 5-21 [3] Sala, N., Arsuaga, J.L.,Martínez, I., Gracia-Téllez, A., 2014. Carnivore activity in the Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Spain) hominin sample. Quaternary Science Reviews 97, 71-83 [4] Sala, N., Arsuaga, J.L., Pantoja-Pérez, A.,Pablos, A., Martínez, I., Quam, R.M., Gómez-Olivencia, A., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Carbonell, E., 2015. Lethal interpersonal violence in the Middle Pleistocene. PLoS ONE 10, e0126589 [5] Sala, N.,Pantoja-Pérez, A., Arsuaga, J.L., Pablos, A., Martínez, I., 2016. The Sima de los Huesos crania: Analysis of the cranial breakage patterns. Journal of Archaeological Science 72, 25-43.

Poster Presentation Number 116, Fr (12:15-14:15)

Neandertal remains from Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona)

Montserrat Sanz1,2, Joan Daura3, Rolf Quam2,4,7, Rebeca Garcí a5, Laura Rodrí guez5,6, María Cruz Ortega2, Juan LuisArsuaga1,2

1 - Universidad Complutense de Madrid · 2 - Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre la Evolución y ComportamientoHumanos · 3 - Grup de Recerca del Quaternari (GRQ) del Seminari Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Universitat deBarcelona · 4 - Binghamton University · 5 - Universidad de Burgos · 6 - Universidad Isabel I · 7 - American Museum of NaturalHistory

Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona) is the only known site in theNE of the Iberian Peninsula, where diagnosticNeandertal humanremains have been recovered from a secure andwell-dated stratigraphic context. At least eight site formation episodes from the LatePleistocene (Episodes 0-3) to theHolocene (Episodes 4-7) have been recognized in the stratigraphic sequence, alternating betweencontinental sediment deposition and periods of marine erosion followed by the accumulation of beach deposits. The layers thatyielded theNeandertal remains have been dated to between 49.4± 1.8 ka and 60.0± 3.9 ka [1]. Five Neandertal specimens (MNI= 4) have been recovered in different galleries from the Cova del Gegant site; Gegant-1 & 2 fromGL1 (layer XVa), Gegant-3 fromGL2 (layer V) and Gegant-4 & 5 from GP2 (layer V). Neandertal fossils were associated with Middle Paleolithic stone tools andPleistocene faunal remains.

The mandible Gegant-1 comprises most of the mandibular corpus from the right M1 tooth socket to the mesial margin of theleft M3 alveolus. No teeth are preserved with the specimen, but the distal root of the left M2 is present in its root socket. The pres-ence and development of the preserved root and root sockets indicate aminimum age at death of around 15 years [2].Themandiblehas been directly dated by U-series to 52.3± 2.3 ka and a short fragment (52 bp) of mtDNA obtained from the mandibular boneitself groups the specimen with Neandertals. Gegant-2 is a lower left lateral permanent incisor (I2) that preserves the entire crown,but is missing approximately the apical third of the root.The degree of tooth wear suggests the tooth belongs to a second individualfrom the site, perhaps around 10 years old [3]. Gegant-3 is a central incisor assigned to a Neandertal specimen which has beenreported previously, but remains unpublished. Gegant-4 is the distal portion of a left humerus from a juvenile estimated to be be-tween 5-7 years old at death. The specimen shows thick cortical bone. Although fragmentary, the constellation of morphologicaland metric features indicates Neandertal affinities. Based on spatial proximity at the site and similar ages at death, this may repre-sent the same individual as the Gegant-5 mandible [4]. Gegant-5 preserves a fragmentary mandible that preserves a portion of theright corpus with the dm2 and M1 fully erupted. In addition, the germs of the permanent canine and premolars are present withinthe mandibular corpus. Based on the degree of dental development, the age at death is estimated as 4.5-5.0 years. The M1 showsa continuous midtrigonid crest and the canine and premolars also show crown features which occur in high frequencies amongNeandertals. The mandible shows a single mental foramen located under the dm1/dm2 interdental septum, a relatively posteriorplacement compared with recent humans of a similar developmental age.Themental foramen inGegant-5 is also placed within thelower half of the mandibular corpus, as in the previously described late adolescent/adult mandible (Gegant-1).

This study is the outcome of the research project: “El Plistocè superior a la costa central catalana: paleoambients i ocupacions neandertals (2014/100639- Servei d’Arqueologia i Paleontologia)”,supported by projects 2014SGR-108, HAR2014-55131 and CGL2015-65387-C3-2-P (MINECO/FEDER). M. Sanz was supported by a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral grant (FJCI-2014-21386) and J. Dauraand Joan Daura by a Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2015-17667).

References:[1] Daura, J., Sanz, M., Pike, A.W.G., Subirà , M.E., Fornós, J.J., Fullola, J.M., Julià , R., Zilhão, J., 2010. Stratigraphic context and direct dating of the Neandertal mandible from Cova delGegant (Sitges, Barcelona). Journal of Human Evolution. 59, 109–122 [2] Daura, J., Sanz, M., Subirà, M.E., Quam, R., Fullola, J.M., Arsuaga, J.L., 2005. A Neandertal mandible from the Cova del Gegant(Sitges, Barcelona, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution. 49, 56–70 [3] Rodrí guez, L., Garcí a-González, R., Sanz, M., Daura, J., Quam, R., Fullola, J.M., Arsuaga, J.L., 2011. A Neanderthal Lower Incisorfrom Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona, Spain). Boletí n de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Sección geológica. 105, 25–30 [4] Quam, R., Sanz, M., Daura, J., Robson Brown, K.,García-González, R., Rodrí guez, L., Dawson, H., Rodrí guez, R.F., Gómez, S., Villaescusa, L., Rubio, Á., Yagüe, A., Ortega Martí nez, M.C., Fullola, J.M., Zilhão, J., Arsuaga, J.L., 2015. The Neandertals ofnortheastern Iberia: New remains from the Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona). Journal of Human Evolution. 81, 13–28

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