FOSSIL HOMO FEMUR FROM BERG-AUKAS, NORTHERN NAMIBIA

The proximal half of a hominid femur was recovered from deep within a paleokarst feature at the Berg Aukas mine, northern Namibia. The femur is fully mineralized, but it is not possible to place it in geochrono logical context. It has a very large head, an exceptionally thick diap hyseal cortex, and a very low collodiaphyseal angle, which serve to di fferentiate it from Holocene homologues. The femur is not attributable to Australopithecus, Paranthropus, or early Homo (i.e., H. habilis se nsu late). Home erectus femora have a relatively longer and AP flatter neck, and a shaft that exhibits less pilaster than the Berg Aukas spe cimen. Berg Aukas also differs from early modern femora in several fea tures, including diaphyseal cortical thickness and the degree of subtr ochanteric AP flattening. The massive diaphyseal cortex of Berg Aukas finds its closest similarity within archaic H. sapiens (e.g., Castel d i Guido) and H. erectus (e.g., KNM-ER 736) samples. It has more cortic al bone at midshaft than any other specimen, although relative cortica l thickness and the asymmetry of its cross-sectional disposition at th is level are comparable with those of other Pleistocene femora. The cl osest morphological comparisons with Berg Aukas are in archaic (i.e., Middle Pleistocene) H. sapiens and Neandertal samples. (C) 1995 Wiley- Liss, Inc.