OR-1


This article is about fossils. For the US congressional district, see Oregon's 1st congressional district. For Oregon Route 1, see Pacific Highway (U.S.).

OR-1 is a collection of hominid teeth and cranium fragments discovered at the Obi-Rakhmat Grotto, which is northeast of Tashkentin, Uzbekistan. The grotto has been a focus of archaeological investigation since the 1960s. These particular fossils were discovered by a multidisciplinary team under the direction of Anatoly Derevianko, Andrei Krivoshapkin, and Patrick Wrinn. The fossil has been dated at 100,000-70,000 years old which places it in the Middle paleolithic. There were lithic artifacts found in the vicinity, which shows evidence of hunting taking place. The stone tools found suggest a correlation to the Levant industry.

Morphology

Six isolated permanent teeth were found. They consisted of an upper lateral incisor, upper third premolar, upper fourth premolar, upper first molar, and an upper second molar, as well as 121 cranial fragments. All of the teeth found had complete crowns with developed roots. The varying size of the roots in each tooth make it difficult to determine if they are damaged, or the length they are because of development. It was determined that all of the pieces belonged to a 9-12-year-old juvenile. The sex of this particular fossil remains unknown. The teeth found have neanderthal features, as some of them show Taurodontism, which is primarily found in the Neanderthal morphology. Studies of the pieces of cranium found are more ambiguous and harder to link to Neanderthals. The Parietal bone has a stronger likeness to Modern humans, while other bones of the skull can be linked to Neanderthal craniums. Most researchers believe that this particular fossil is a Neanderthal because of the analysis of its dentition

See also

References

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