The earliest toothless hominin skull

摘要

The site of Dmanisi in the Eurasian republic of Georgia has yielded striking hominin, faunal and archaeological material as evidence for the presence of early Homo outside Africa 1.77 million years ago, documenting an important episode in human evolution. Here we describe a beautifully preserved skull and jawbone from a Dmanisi hominin of this period who had lost all but one tooth several years before death. This specimen not only represents the earliest case of severe masticatory impairment in the hominin fossil record to be discovered so far, but alsoraises questions about alternative subsistence strategies in early Homo. The cranium and its associated mandible (specimens D3444 and D3900, respectively) were recovered during the 2002-04 field seasons. The skull is similar in its overall morphology (for details, see supplementary information) to the Dmanisi individuals described earlier, except that it is edentulous (Fig. la-e). All the maxillary teeth were lost before death, as evinced by the complete resorption of the tooth sockets and extensive remodelling of the alveolar process. In the mandibula all sockets, except those for the canine teeth, have been resorbed and only the left canine persisted at the time of death. The mandibular body has been resorbed down to the level of the mental foramen,and the projection of the symphyseal region is likely to be the result of remodelling following loss of the incisors.