title: New Neanderthal remains from Mani peninsula, Southern Greece: the Kalamakia Middle Paleolithic cave site.
abstract: The Kalamakia cave, a Middle Paleolithic site on the western coast of the Mani peninsula, Greece, was excavated in 1993-2006 by an interdisciplinary team from the Ephoreia of Paleoanthropology and Speleology (Greek Ministry of Culture) and the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris). The site is dated to between ca. 100,000 and >39,000 years BP (Before Present) and has yielded Mousterian lithics, a rich fauna, and human remains from several layers. The latter include 10 isolated teeth, a cranial fragment and three postcranial elements. The remains represent at least eight individuals, two of them subadults, and show both carnivore and anthropogenic modifications. They can be identified as Neanderthal on the basis of diagnostic morphology on most specimens. A diet similar to that of Neanderthals from mixed habitat is suggested by our analysis of dental wear (occlusal fingerprint analysis) and microwear (occlusal texture microwear analysis), in agreement with the faunal and palynological analyses of the site. These new fossils significantly expand the Neanderthal sample known from Greece. Together with the human specimens from Lakonis and Apidima, the Kalamakia human remains add to the growing evidence of a strong Neanderthal presence in the Mani region during the Late Pleistocene.
authors.affiliation: Paleoanthropology, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, Tübingen 72070, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. katerina.harvati@ifu.uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harvati
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darlas
authors.forename: Shara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Rein
authors.forename: Sireen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El Zaatari
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fiorenza
authors.forename: Ottmar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kullmer
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Psathi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D006115:Greece; D059125:Neanderthals / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D057085:Tooth Wear