Florisbad Skull

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Florisbad Skull
Common name Florisbad Skull
Species Archaic Homo sapiens
or Homo heidelbergensis
possibly Homo helmei
Age 259,000 yrs. old
Place discovered Florisbad archaeological and paleontological site, South Africa
Date discovered 1932
Discovered by Prof. T.F. Dreyer

The Florisbad Skull was originally discovered by Prof. T.F. Dreyer at the Florisbad site. Prof. Dreyer classified it as Homo helmei to mark its distinctiveness from Homo sapiens fossils. It is now generally either described as "archaic H. sapiens" or assigned to H. heidelbergensis. It may, however, be an intermediate form between H. heidelbergensis and H. sapiens, in which case retention of the H. helmei classification could be appropriate.

See also

References

  • Brink, J.S. 1988. The taphonomy and palaeoecology of the Florisbad spring Fauna. Palaeoecology of Africa 19: 169–179. Culna, September 1997.
  • Brink, J.S. 1987. The archaeo-zoology of Florisbad, Orange Free State. Memoirs van die Nasionale Museum 24: 1–151.
  • Grün, R., Brink, J.S., Spooner, N.A., Taylor, L., Stringer, C.B., Franciscus, R.B. & Murray, A. 1996. Direct dating of the Florisbad hominid. Nature 382: 500–501.

    Coordinates: 44°59′N 1°43′E / 44.983°N 1.717°E / 44.983; 1.717


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