Shanidar 10: a Middle Paleolithic immature distal lower limb from Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan

J Hum Evol. 2007 Aug;53(2):213-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.04.003. Epub 2007 Jun 14.

Abstract

The analysis of the faunal remains from Shanidar Cave has identified an incomplete immature human distal leg and foot from the deepest levels of the Middle Paleolithic of Shanidar Cave, Iraq. The distal tibia, fibula, first metatarsal, and two tarsals, designated Shanidar 10, derive from a 1-2-year-old infant. The tibia exhibits a transverse line from a stress episode during the last quarter of its first year postnatal. The cross-sectional geometry of the tibial midshaft reveals modest cortical thickening and a level of diaphyseal robusticity similar to those of recent human infants of a similar developmental age.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bone and Bones
  • Fossils
  • Hominidae
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Iraq
  • Leg / anatomy & histology*
  • Paleopathology