Burgos, Spain—According to a statement issued by Spanish National Research Center for Human Development (CENIEH), an international team of researchers led by Laura Martin-Francis of CENIEH has examined nine Neanderthal teeth recovered from Pere, an archaeological site in southeastern France, with micro-computed tomography, geometric morphometrics and analysis of dental tissue proportions. The teeth at the site came from different archaeological levels, dated to the Middle Pleistocene, when changes in climate transformed the landscape of Europe. This study of the external shape of the teeth and their internal structures revealed that they are physically similar to Neanderthal teeth from the same period found elsewhere in France and Spain. Yet the study also found variability within the sample. “Rather than a simple and linear evolutionary process, our research supports the idea that Neanderthal evolution was shaped by regionally structured populations that were fragmented and, at times, isolated for long periods of time,” Martin-Francis said. Read the original scholarly article about this research archeology and anthropology. To read about the oldest known piece of rope, which was found at another site in southeastern France, go to “Twisted Neanderthal Tech“
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