17 NEW MANDIBULAR SPECIMENS FROM THE ATAPUERCA-IBEAS MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE HOMINIDS SAMPLE (1985-1992)

Seventeen newly discovered fossil hominid mandibular specimens from th e Sima de los Huesos site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) are presented in this paper. All come from the same stratigraphic level. Analysis o f variability within the sample identifies three categories of traits: invariant traits, size-related traits and size-independent traits. It s strong morphological uniformity suggests that the sample most likely derives from a single biological population. Variation in mandibular morphology is primarily related to size and the associated change in s hape. Features previously considered to be of phylogenetic importance are found to be variable in the Atapuerca sample.