Skull cast – Rhodesian Man
(Homo heidelbergensis)
- Middle Stone Age fossil
- Nickname: Rhodesian Man
- Site: Kabwe, Zambia (on in a lead and zinc mine, 18 meters below the ground level)
Year of Discovery: June 17th, 1921
Discovered by: Tom Zwiglaar
Age: Between 324,000 and 274,000 years old
Original specimen: Natural History Museum, London
First early human fossil ever to be discovered in Africa
> Arthur Smith Woodward assigned the specimen to a new species: Homo rhodesiensis.
> Today, most scientists assign Kabwe to Homo heidelbergensis.
> This skull is one of the oldest known to have tooth cavities.
> They occur in 10 of the upper teeth.
> The individual may have died from an infection related to dental disease or from a chronic ear infection.
Similarity with Homo erectus Low braincase profile (the area towards the back of the skull), large brow ridges, a slight widening of the midface known as the sagittal keel, and a protrusion at the back of the skull named the occipital torus.
Similarity with Homo sapiens
But Kabwe also resembles modern humans with a flatter, less prognathic face, and larger brain (1300 cubic centimeters).