Teshik-Tash 1
 Teshik-Tash 1 | |
| Common name | Teshik-Tash 1 |
|---|---|
| Species | Homo neanderthalensis (mtDNA confirmed)[1] |
| Age | No dates produced |
| Place discovered | Teshik-Tash Cave, Uzbek SSR, USSR |
| Date discovered | 1938 |
| Discovered by | Alexey Okladnikov |
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Teshik-Tash 1 is a Neanderthal skeleton discovered in 1938 in Teshik-Tash Cave, in the Bajsuntau mountain range, Uzbek SSR (Uzbekistan), Central Asia.
The remains were discovered in 1938 by A. P. Okladnikov.[2] They were found in a shallow pit, reported to be associated with five pairs of Siberian ibex horn cores. Through dental analysis the skull was said to have been an 8 to 11-year-old child. The horn cores were found around the perimeter of the grave surrounding the cranial remains. This has led a number of researchers to believe the child was ritually buried.[3]
The site was excavated in five cultural layers of sediment with Mousterian artifacts.[4][5]
Lack of adequate published material on the excavation [6] and the numerous Ibex bones (761) found led to this interpretation being questioned. Paul Mellars, questioning the ritual interpretation suggested that the bones may not have been deliberately placed.[7] Others (e.g., Gargett) believe it is no burial at all.
Date
[edit | edit source]The remains are not dated. Based on the archaeology, fauna, and skeleton itself, it is thought to come from the Middle Palaeolithic (300,000 to 40,000 years ago).[1]
Skull
[edit | edit source]Reconstruction
[edit | edit source]The Teshik-Tash skull was reconstructed from 150 bone fragments.[8] The skull was crushed due to the several layers of sediment that lay on top of it.
| in | cm | |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 7.75 | 19.69 |
| Width | 5.5 | 19.97 |
| Length | 6 | 15.24 |
Controversy
[edit | edit source]The Teshik-Tash skull’s dental analysis placed the age of the hominin between 8–9 years old at the time of death. The size of the skull was relatively larger than that of a modern child’s skull of the same age. Archaeologists suggested that this was because Neanderthals have a faster rate of growth than modern Homo sapiens adolescences. The skull is larger and taller and exhibited typical Neanderthal traits such as an occipital bun, oval-shaped foramen magnum, shovel-shaped incisors, supraorbital ridge, and the absence of a strong chin.[8] Other midfacial features of the skull such as the lingual of the mandibular foramen were said to be more characteristic of modern humans than Neanderthals. The morphological features of the Teshik-Tash skull lead researchers to question the classification as some argued that it was closer in morphological association with Upper Paleolithic Homo sapiens. Statistical analysis of 27 linear measurements placed the Teshik-Tash skull and mandible outside the variation of the Neanderthals and associated it with Upper Paleolithic humans.[8]
DNA analysis
[edit | edit source]mtDNA analysis was conducted on the Teshik-Tash skull which confirmed that the skull was Neanderthal.[9] Further genetic research concluded that near-eastern Neanderthals were somewhat segregated from northwestern European Neanderthals and early Neanderthals along the Mediterranean. This data is suggested through consistent low levels of gene flow between Neanderthals and modern humans in the Near East.[8]
Significance
[edit | edit source]Prior to the discovery of the Teshik-Tash skull in 1938, it was thought that Neanderthals had not spread east enough to reach Central Asia.[4]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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- ^ Teshik-Tash, Uzbekistan. Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, 01/2008, 2, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
- ^ a b New hominin remains from Uzbekistan. Journal of Human Evolution, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., 2008, Volume 55, Issue 2, pp. 223 – 23. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
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- ^ a b c d The Mousterian child from Teshik-Tash is a Neanderthal: a geometric morphometric study of the frontal bone. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)., 11/2012, Volume 149, Issue 3, pp. 365 – 379. Retrieved 2014-04-23.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to Lua error in Module:Commons_link at line 62: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). at Wikimedia Commons
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