Nazlet Khater

Skeleton from Nazlet Khater

Nazlet Khater[1] is an archeological site located in Upper Egypt that has yielded evidence of early human culture and anatomically modern specimens dating to approximately thirty to fifty thousand years ago.

Excavations at the Nazlet Khater 2 site (Boulder Hill) yielded the remains of two human skeletons in 1980.[2] One of the skulls was that of a male subadult. The cranium was generally modern in form, but with a very wide face, and it evinced some archaic traits in the temple and mandible areas. Below the skull, the skeleton was robust, but otherwise, anatomically modern. Morphological analysis of the Nazlet Khater mandible indicates that the specimen was distinct from the examined Late Pleistocene and Holocene North African specimens.[3]

Ron Pinhasi and Patrick Semal (2000) found strong Stone Age Sub-Saharan affinities in the 33,000 year old skeleton from Nazlet Khater, Upper Egypt as the authors noted "The morphometric affinities of the 33,000 year old skeleton from Nazlet Khater, Upper Egypt are examined using multivariate statistical procedures. The results indicate a strong association between some of the sub-Saharan Middle Stone Age (MSA) specimens, and the Nazlet Khater mandible , which are different from modern sub saharan africans. Furthermore, the results suggest that variability between African populations during the Neolithic and Protohistoric periods was more pronounced than the range of variability observed among recent African and Levantine populations."[4]

The Nazlet Khater 2 skeleton possesses two plesiomorphic features in its mandible, which are not found among coeval, anatomically modern, humans. This suggests that the ancestors of the specimen may have interbred with neighboring late archaic humans.[5] At Nazlet Khater 4 to the southeast, Upper Paleolithic axes, blades, burins, end scrapers, and denticulates were also excavated. The site has been radiocarbon dated to between 30,360 and 35,100 years ago.[3] The similarities between NK2 and Upper Paleolithic European samples may indicate a close relationship between this Nile Valley specimen and European Upper Paleolithic modern humans.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hublin, Jean-Jacques; McPherron, Shannon (31 March 2012). Modern Origins: A North African Perspective. Springer. ISBN 9789400729285 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Dental Anthropology" (PDF). Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  3. ^ a b Willoughby, Pamela R. (2007). The Evolution of Modern Humans in Africa: A Comprehensive Guide. Rowman Altamira. pp. 181–182. ISBN 978-0759101197. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  4. ^ Pinhasi, R.; Semal, P. (September 2000). "The position of the Nazlet Khater specimen among prehistoric and modern African and Levantine populations". Journal of Human Evolution. 39 (3): 269–288. doi:10.1006/jhev.2000.0421. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 10964529.
  5. ^ Trinkaus, Erik (May 1, 2007). "European early modern humans and the fate of the Neandertals". PNAS. 104 (18): 7367–7372. Bibcode:2007PNAS..104.7367T. doi:10.1073/pnas.0702214104. PMC 1863481. PMID 17452632.
  6. ^ Bouchneb, L.; Crevecoeur, I. (March 2009). "The inner ear of Nazlet Khater 2 (Upper Paleolithic, Egypt)". Journal of Human Evolution. 56 (3): 257–262. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.12.003. ISSN 1095-8606. PMID 19144388.

External links[edit]

  • Leplongeon, Alice; Pleurdeau, David (2011). "The Upper Palaeolithic Lithic Industry of Nazlet Khater 4 (Egypt): Implications for the Stone Age/Palaeolithic of Northeastern Africa". African Archaeological Review. 28 (3): 213–36. doi:10.1007/s10437-011-9100-x. S2CID 128628843.
  • Pinhasi, Ron; Semal, Patrick (2000). "The position of the Nazlet Khater specimen among prehistoric and modern African and Levantine populations". Journal of Human Evolution. 39 (3): 269–88. doi:10.1006/jhev.2000.0421. PMID 10964529.
  • Vermeersch, P.M.; Gijselings, G.; Paulissen, E. (1984). "Discovery of the Nazlet Khater man, Upper Egypt". Journal of Human Evolution. 13 (3): 281–6. doi:10.1016/S0047-2484(84)80013-5.
  • Bouchneb, L.; Crevecoeur, I. (2009). "The inner ear of Nazlet Khater 2 (Upper Paleolithic, Egypt)". Journal of Human Evolution. 56 (3): 257–62. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.12.003. PMID 19144388.
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