Hominid skull fragments from Late Pleistocene layers in Leine Valley (Sarstedt, District of Hildesheim, Germany)

Three cranial fragments were recovered from coarse-grained deposits dug up by a suction dredge from gravel pits on the Leine river flats in the vicini ty of Sarstedt (northwestern Germany). Also recovered were a number of arte facts which, upon careful inspection, could be assigned to the Middle Paleo lithic. The geological pattern of the Leine Valley in this region suggests that these fragments were deposited in the lower terrace during a yet undet ermined warm period-possibly Brorup or Odderade-during the Weichsel glaciat ion. However, attribution to the Eemian period or a Saale interstadial cann ot be ruled out. The features of the Sarstedt (Sst) I infant temporal are k nown from Neanderthals (e.g., Weimar-Ehringsdorf, Engis, Krapina 1) and can be seen in specimens from the European late-Home erectus group as well. Su b-adult individuals do not always exhibit full development of features char acteristic for adults and-to some extent-anticipate the succeeding developm ental stage (i.e., neoteny). The Neanderthal autapomorphies characterizing the fragments of the occipital and the parietal are certainly consistent wi th assigning both unequivocally to the species H. neanderthalensis. The pre sence of Middle Paleolithic artefacts recovered from the same deposits are commensurate with the presence of Neanderthals. However, there is no clear contextual association of any archaeological and fossil human material. Fut ure DNA research will hopefully add up to the established morphological pic ture. (C) 2001 Academic Press.