Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population affinities and pathological abnormalities

doi:10.1073/pnas.0605563103

Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population affinities and pathological abnormalities

*Laboratory of Bioanthropology and Paleoanthropology, Gadjah Mada University Faculty of Medicine, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia;
^†National Archaeological Research Center, J1. Raya Condet Pejaten No. 4, Jakarta 12001, Indonesia;
^‡Kenneth Hsü Center for Integrated Hydrologic Circuits Development, National Institute of Earth Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
^¶Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045;
^‖Laboratory for the Comparative Study of Morphology, Mechanics, and Molecules, Department of Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
**Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200 Australia; and
^††Anatomical Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia

Contributed by K. Hsü, July 7, 2006

Abstract

Liang Bua 1 (LB1) exhibits marked craniofacial and postcranial asymmetries and other indicators of abnormal growth and development. Anomalies aside, 140 cranial features place LB1 within modern human ranges of variation, resembling Australomelanesian populations. Mandibular and dental features of LB1 and LB6/1 either show no substantial deviation from modern Homo sapiens or share features (receding chins and rotated premolars) with Rampasasa pygmies now living near Liang Bua Cave. We propose that LB1 is drawn from an earlier pygmy H. sapiens population but individually shows signs of a developmental abnormality, including microcephaly. Additional mandibular and postcranial remains from the site share small body size but not microcephaly.

Footnotes

^§To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: eyl{at}psu.edu or kenjhsu{at}aol.com
Author contributions: T.J., E.I., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.T., and M.H. designed research; T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.J.K., A.T., and M.H. performed research; R.B.E. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.J.K., A.T., and M.H. analyzed data; and T.J., E.I., R.P.S., K.H., D.W.F., R.B.E., A.T., and M.H. wrote the paper.
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
↵ ^‡‡Dokladal, M. & Horackova, L. (1994) Homo 45, Suppl., S40 (abstr.).
^§§Eckhardt, R. B., Kuperavage, A., Sommer, H. J., Jr., & Galik, K. (2005) Poster presented at the International Society of Biomechanics XXth Congress/American Society of Biomechanics 29th Annual Meeting, Cleveland, OH, August 2, 2005.
Abbreviations:

Liang Bua 1,

LB1;

ka,

thousand years ago;

P3,

lower third premolar;

P4,

lower fourth premolar.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.