Re-examination of “ancient” fossils discovered in the middle of the 20th century. Late Middle Pleistocene hominins from Montmaurin caves (Southwest of France)

Abstract

In 1945, the activity of the quarries settled near the village of Montmaurin, 75km south-west from Toulouse in France, led to the discovery of several caves filled by archeological deposits. After the visit done by H. Begouën and the Abbey H. Breuil, L. Méroc did excavations from 1946 to 1961 mainly in the Coupe-Gorge cavity which has yielded a lot of lithics and bones. Among them, there were human remains: a juvenile partial mandible (corresponding to the symphyseal part), a right maxillary bone bearing P4-C and 3 isolated teeth (1 canine, P3 and M3). In a nearby vertical gallery called La Niche, one complete adult mandible bearing its molars, 2 vertebras and one fragmentary tibia were also discovered. All these fossils, except the 3 latter ones, where published in detail. But, due to the lack of radiometric dating, such fossils were less and less included in studies. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine these human remains which are relevant to discuss the emergence of the Neandertal lineage in Europe. Indeed, the mandible from La Niche, dated to the IS7 based on biochronology, is not fully Neandertal but it shows a combination of archaic and derived features, respectively on the bone itself and on teeth, which keeps open the discussion.