THE SIMA-DE-LOS-HUESOS CRANIA (SIERRA-DE-ATAPUERCA, SPAIN) - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

The Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca) cranial remains found up to and including the 1995 field season are described and compared with other fossils in order to assess their evolutionary relationships. Th e phenetic affinities of the Sima de los Huesos crania and a large sam ple of Homo fossils are investigated through principal component analy ses. Metrical comparisons of the Sima de los Huesos and other European and African Middle Pleistocene fossils with Neandertals are performed using Z-scores relative to the Neandertal sample statistics. The most relevant cranial traits are metrically and morphologically analyzed a nd cladistically evaluated. The Sima de los Huesos crania exhibit a nu mber of primitive traits lost in Upper Pleistocene Neandertals (especi ally in the braincase, but also in the facial skeleton), as well as ot her traits that are transitional to the Neandertal morphology (particu larly in the occipital bone), and features dose to what is found in Ne andertals (as the supraorbital morphology and midfacial prognathism). Different combinations of primitive and derived traits (shared with Ne andertals) are also displayed by the other European Middle Pleistocene fossils. In conclusion, the Sima de los Huesos sample is evolutionari ly related to Neandertals as well as to the other European Middle Plei tocene fossils. In our opinion, all the European Middle Pleistocene fo ssils belong to the Neandertal lineage, and none can be included in an Afroeuropean common ancestor of Neandertals and modern humans. (C) 19 97 Academic Press Limited.