title: Middle pleistocene human remains from Tourville-la-Rivière (Normandy, France) and their archaeological context.
abstract: Despite numerous sites of great antiquity having been excavated since the end of the 19th century, Middle Pleistocene human fossils are still extremely rare in northwestern Europe. Apart from the two partial crania from Biache-Saint-Vaast in northern France, all known human fossils from this period have been found from ten sites in either Germany or England. Here we report the discovery of three long bones from the same left upper limb discovered at the open-air site of Tourville-la-Rivière in the Seine Valley of northern France. New U-series and combined US-ESR dating on animal teeth produced an age range for the site of 183 to 236 ka. In combination with paleoecological indicators, they indicate an age toward the end of MIS 7. The human remains from Tourville-la-Rivière are attributable to the Neandertal lineage based on morphological and metric analyses. An abnormal crest on the left humerus represents a deltoid muscle enthesis. Micro- and or macro-traumas connected to repetitive movements similar to those documented for professional throwing athletes could be origin of abnormality.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Faivre
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maureille
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Priscilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bayle
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Crevecoeur
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duval
authors.affiliation: Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grün
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand Ouest, Centre archéologique de Grand Quevilly, Grand-Quevilly, France, and Unité Mixte de Recherche 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bemilli
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 7041, Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (UMR 7071 - ARSCAN), équipe Anthropologie des techniques, des espaces et des territoires au Pléistocène (ANTET), Maison René Ginouvès, Nanterre, France.
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonilauri
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Nord-Picardie, Centre archéologique d'Amiens, Amiens, France, and UMR 8591 Laboratoire de Géographie Physique: Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels, Meudon, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coutard
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Maryelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bessou
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 8591, Laboratoire de Géographie Physique: Environnements Quaternaires et Actuels, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Meudon, France.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Limondin-Lozouet
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand Ouest, Centre archéologique de Grand Quevilly, Grand-Quevilly, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cottard
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand Ouest, Centre archéologique de Grand Quevilly, Grand-Quevilly, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deshayes
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand Ouest, Centre archéologique de Grand Quevilly, Grand-Quevilly, France.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Douillard
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand-Ouest, Centre archéologique de Carquefou, Carquefou, France.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Henaff
authors.affiliation: Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (INRAP) Grand Ouest, Centre archéologique de Grand Quevilly, Grand-Quevilly, France.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pautret-Homerville
authors.affiliation: Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: Les
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kinsley
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trinkaus
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D005580:Fossils; D005602:France; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans