Human mandibular incisors from the late Middle Pleistocene locality of Hoedjiespunt 1, South Africa

Abstract

The Hoedjiespunt 1 locality is an archaeological and palaeontological site located on the Hoedjiespunt Peninsula at Saldanha Bay, South Africa. In 1996 two human teeth, a left central mandibular incisor and a left lateral mandibular incisor, were discovered during excavations in the late Middle Pleistocene palaeontological layers. These teeth are described and are found to belong to a single subadult individual. Despite their developmental stage, these incisors already display early signs of wear. Their crown diameters are larger than modern and archaeological African comparative material and are most closely comparable with crown diameters of an early Middle Pleistocene and late Middle Pleistocene dental sample from Africa, Europe and Asia. In the light of this metrical evidence, data on two previously excavated maxillary molars, most probably belonging to the same individual, were re-examined. It was found that the Hoedjiespunt 1 hominid possessed dental metrical features (large anterior teeth and small molars) comparable with other African and European hominids referred to the Middle Pleistocene.