title: Middle Pleistocene dental remains from Qesem Cave (Israel).
abstract: This study presents a description and comparative analysis of Middle Pleistocene permanent and deciduous teeth from the site of Qesem Cave (Israel). All of the human fossils are assigned to the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) of the late Lower Paleolithic. The Middle Pleistocene age of the Qesem teeth (400-200 ka) places them chronologically earlier than the bulk of fossil hominin specimens previously known from southwest Asia. Three permanent mandibular teeth (C(1) -P(4) ) were found in close proximity in the lower part of the stratigraphic sequence. The small metric dimensions of the crowns indicate a considerable degree of dental reduction although the roots are long and robust. In contrast, three isolated permanent maxillary teeth (I(2) , C(1) , and M(3) ) and two isolated deciduous teeth that were found within the upper part of the sequence are much larger and show some plesiomorphous traits similar to those of the Skhul/Qafzeh specimens. Although none of the Qesem teeth shows a suite of Neanderthal characters, a few traits may suggest some affinities with members of the Neanderthal evolutionary lineage. However, the balance of the evidence suggests a closer similarity with the Skhul/Qafzeh dental material, although many of these resemblances likely represent plesiomorphous features.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Dan David Laboratory for the Search and Study of Modern Humans, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. anatom2@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hershkovitz
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarig
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quam
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arsuaga
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barkai
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gopher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible; D010161:Paleodontology; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology*