Orsang Man: a robust Homo sapiens in Central India with Asian Homo erectus features

Anne Dambricourt-Malassé (1) , Rachna Raj (2) , Samit Shah (3)

1 HNHP - Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique
2 Department of Geology
3 Aster Diagnostic & Therapeutic Radiology Services

A Homo sapiens calvarium recovered in a fluvial deposit of the Orsang River give evidence of genetic continuity between late Asian Homo erectus suggesting an Asian "like-cromagnoid" stadium in the evolutionary process. IRSL dating of the host sediments provided an age ranging from 50 to 30 ka. The interesting features observed are a well-developed asteriac process or gracile torus angularis, a well-developed supramastoid crest, a very broad frontal sinus in the glabellar area, the greatest width located in the lower part of the cranium. CT-scan shows no pneumatization of the mastoid process as in Homo erectus, but two temporal bosses. The study establishes that in the absence of new contradictory data, the Orsang man can be seen as the oldest Homo sapiens of the subcontinent.

Mots clés: Orsang (India); pleistocene; skull; Homo erectus; Homo sapiens; evolution; continuity

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire; Anthropologie biologique; Evolution [q-bio.PE]

Anne Dambricourt-Malassé, Rachna Raj, Samit Shah. Orsang Man: a robust Homo sapiens in Central India with Asian Homo erectus features. Evolving humanisty, Emerging Worlds, 17th WOrld Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Aug 2013, Manchester, United Kingdom. ⟨halshs-00873939⟩