The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #171928   Message #4188875
Posted By: Stilly River Sage
21-Sep-23 - 12:46 PM
Thread Name: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
Subject: RE: Armchair Archaeologist (via Google Earth) pt 2
Following breadcrumbs from Sandra's story takes me to the Smithsonian entry about Homo heidelbergensis. In particular the description:
In 1908 near Heidelberg, Germany, a workman found the type specimen of H. heidelbergensis in the Rösch sandpit just north of the village of Mauer. This mandible was nearly complete except for the missing premolars and first two left molars; it is heavily built and lacks a chin. German scientist Otto Schoentensack was the first to describe the specimen and proposed the species name Homo heidelbergensis.

Before the naming of this species, scientists referred to early human fossils showing traits similar to both Homo erectus and modern humans as ‘archaic’ Homo sapiens.

A point to make here is that while it says it "lacks a chin" doesn't mean that part of the mandible broke off, it's one of those early humanoid features. It seems that only Homo sapiens have a pronounced chin on the bottom of the face. I read about this recently, that earlier humanoids didn't have chins.