Bodo cranium

Bodo

Bodo cranium, Smithsonian Natural History Museum
Common name	Bodo
Species	Homo heidelbergensis or Homo erectus
Age	600,000 years
Place discovered	Bodo D'ar, Awash River valley of Ethiopia
Date discovered	1976
Discovered by	Asfaw

The Bodo cranium is a fossil of an extinct type of human, found by members of an expedition led by Jon Kalb in 1976 at Bodo D'ar, Awash River valley of Ethiopia.^[1] The initial discovery was by Alemayhew Asfaw and Charles Smart, a lower face. Two weeks later, Paul Whitehead and Craig Wood found the upper portion of the face. The skull is 600,000 years old^[2] and is intermediate in shape between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, though many palaeoanthropologists have classified this as a specimen of Homo heidelbergensis.^[3] The cranium has an unusual appearance, which has led to debates over its taxonomy.

Observation

This specimen has a larger brain which is estimated at 1250 cc which is very close to brain size of Homo sapiens. The cranium includes the face, much of the frontal bone, parts of the midvault and the base anterior to the foramen magnum. The cranial length, width and height are 21 cm (8.3 in), 15.87 cm (6.2 in) and 19.05 cm (7.5 in) respectively. Researchers have suggested that Bodo butchered animals because Acheulean hand axes and cleavers, along with animal bones, were found at the site. The cranium has cut marks which indicates that immediately after the death of this individual stone tools were used to remove the flesh from the bone.^[1][4]

See also

• List of human evolution fossils

References