The affinity of the dental remains from Obi-Rakhmat Grotto, Uzbekistan

Shara Bailey, Michelle Glantz, Timothy D. Weaver, Bence Viola

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    A human partial maxillary dentition and a fragmentary cranium were recovered from Obi-Rakhmat Grotto in northeastern Uzbekistan in 2003. Initial descriptions of this single juvenile (OR-1) from a Middle Paleolithic archaeological context have emphasized its mosaic morphological pattern; the dentition appears archaic, while certain morphological aspects of the cranial fragments may be more ambiguous. The present study provides a systematic and comparative analysis of the dental morphology and morphometrics of OR-1 to provide a more refined appraisal of its phenetic affinity vis á vis Neandertals and modern humans. Two analyses were performed. The first uses 28 non-metric dental traits scored from Neandertals, Upper Paleolithic, and Middle Paleolithic modern humans to assess the posterior probability of group membership for the Obi-Rakhmat individual. The second is a morphometric analysis of the first upper molar of OR-1. The results of both analyses suggest the dentition of OR-1 is essentially Neandertal.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)238-248
    Number of pages11
    JournalJournal of Human Evolution
    Volume55
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Aug 2008

    Keywords

    • Central Asia
    • Dental morphology
    • Dental morphometrics
    • Modern humans
    • Neandertals
    • Upper first molar

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
    • Anthropology

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