ENDOCRANIAL CAPACITY IN AN EARLY HOMINID CRANIUM FROM STERKFONTEIN, SOUTH-AFRICA

Two- and three-dimensional computer imaging shows that endocranial cap acity in an similar to 2.8- to 2.6-million-year-old early hominid cran ium (Stw 505) from Sterkfontein, South Africa, tentatively assigned to Australopithecus africanus, is similar to 515 cubic centimeters. Alth ough this is the largest endocranial capacity recorded for this specie s, it is still markedly less than anecdotal reports of endocranial cap acity exceeding 600 cubic centimeters. No australopithecine has an end ocranial capacity approaching, let alone exceeding, 600 cubic centimet ers. Some currently accepted estimates of early hominid endocranial ca pacity may be inflated, suggesting that the tempo and mode of early ho minid brain evolution may need reevaluation.