THE NDUTU CRANIUM AND THE ORIGIN OF HOMO-SAPIENS

The reconstruction and anatomy of a crushed hominid cranium excavated from an Acheulean horizon at Lake Ndutu, Tanzania, is here described. It is assigned to archaicHomo sapiens on the basis of its expanded parietal and occipital regions of the brain. ArchaicH. sapiens apparently evolved from an African species usually classified asHomo erectus but here argued to be a separate species,Homo leakeyi. It is further argued thatHomo leakeyi evolved fromHomo habilis about 1·5 million years ago and continued the Acheulean handaxe tradition that began withH. habilis. It is suggested thatHomo erectus was a species that originated in Asia east of Bangladesh, possibly from aHomo habilis population isolated in that part of the world. Indications are thatH. erectus was confined to that region, was not cognisant with Acheulean handaxe technology, and was not ancestral to modern man. © 1990 Academic Press Limited.