RESUMO
El Castillo cave is a well-known site because of its Paleolithic archaeology and parietal rock art. This paper is focused on the human remains found by V. Cabrera in the Mousterian Unit XX assigned to MIS 4 and early MIS 3. The fossils consist of one upper left second premolar (ULP4), one incomplete proximal hand phalanx, and one partial femoral head. The tooth and the phalanx were assigned to adults, whereas the femoral head belonged to an immature individual due to the absence of fusion traces to the metaphyseal surface. The external morphology and metrical characterization of the Castillo-1466 (ULP4) tooth crown was quantified and compared to the variability of other Neanderthal dental remains and a sample of modern human populations. We also quantified its 3D enamel thickness distribution, its roots morphology, as well as the presence of chipping, and their possible relation to masticatory or paramasticatory activities. Castillo-1466 shows crown dimensions compatible with middle-sized Neanderthal teeth, but with a remarkably thicker enamel than other Neanderthal premolars, such as Marillac 13. The femoral head and the hand phalanx fragment are compared to published values for Neanderthals, although both partial fossils lack diagnostic features precluding any clear taxonomic diagnostic. Therefore, their attribution to Neanderthals is assumed based on the dating of the layers in which they were discovered. El Castillo cave Mousterian fossils represent another contribution to the knowledge of the Middle Paleolithic populations of Northern Spain, where different sites along the Cantabrian mountains yielded several human remains assigned to MIS 4 and early MIS 3.
RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: This article documents an incomplete child's mandible found in H. Obermaier's excavation campaign (in 1912) in El Castillo Cave, Spain. This fossil was assigned to what was then considered a phase of the "Aurignacian-delta". MATERIALS AND METHODS: We exhaustively analyzed the original Obermaier documents, with particular attention to those corresponding to the year of the discovery. We extracted a bone sample to radiocarbon date the fossil directly. We also followed established methods to measure, describe and compare the mandible with other human remains. RESULTS: The analysis of Obermaier's documents and new data derived from modern excavations, show that the mandible was discovered in an interior area of the cave. Direct radiocarbon dating yielded a result of 24,720 ± 210 BP and 29,300 - 28,300 cal BP, a date similar to those known for the Gravettian technocomplex both in the El Castillo site and across Europe. The jaw corresponded to a child aged 4-5 years, with modern morphology, but with a certain robustness, especially in the symphyseal region. Comparisons were made with several modern children (Granada, Spitalfields, and Black series) and with immature fossils (European Aurignacian and Gravettian). The few differences between the modern and the fossil children are related to the symphysis and mandibular corpus thickness and height, and to the symphyseal morphology and larger teeth dimensions. Paleoisotopic data for Castillo C correspond with a varied diet. Numerous cutmarks were identified in the midline internal symphyseal region. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: The results agree with those published for other fossils of similar age and chronology (e.g., the mandible of the Lagar Velho child) and show clear differences from the jaws of the young Neanderthals. The interpretation of the original data on the mandible discovery may indicate the destruction of a burial and the displacement, by percolation or by a den, at least of part of the skeleton. The perimortem manipulations in the child's mandible are the first described in the Gravettian world of Western Europe.
