Article1998

Rare temporal bone pathology of the Singa calvaria from Sudan

Fred Spoor · Chris B. Stringer · Frans W. Zonneveld

65 citations0/0 files storedAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology

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Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies Paleopathology and ancient diseases

Abstract

Evidence has recently accumulated that the Singa calvaria from Sudan probably dates from Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 (>130 ka). Morphological studies have indicated a mixture of archaic and more modern human traits, but such analyses are complicated by the possibility that the vault is pathologically deformed, although the exact etiology has not been established. Now computed tomography (CT) has revealed that the right temporal bone lacks the structures of the bony labyrinth. The most likely cause of this rare pathological condition appears to be labyrinthine ossification, in which newly deposited bone obliterates the inner ear spaces following an infectious disease or occlusion of the labyrinthine blood supply. A possible cause of vascular compromise could have been the presence of an expanding acoustic neuroma in the internal acoustic meatus, which is suggested by a significantly wider right meatus compared with the left side. Interestingly, labyrinthine ossification is also consistent with the controversial diagnosis that an anemia caused the characteristic diploic widening at the parietal bosses, because prime etiological factors of ossification are among the common complications of some of these blood diseases. CT examination of the vault and a review of the literature suggest that a blood disorder may well have caused the unusual parietal morphology. Given the nature of these pathological conditions, the Singa individual must have experienced a period of considerable disability. The morphological evidence from the normal bony labyrinth on the left side and from the CT evaluation of the vault is consistent with the interpretation of Singa as a late archaic hominid or an early representative of Homo sapiens drawn from a population which might be directly ancestral to modern humans.

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References

2003Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains 1985Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains 1986Hominid Evolution: Past, Present and Future 1996A late Neanderthal associated with Upper Palaeolithic artefacts 1994Implications of early hominid labyrinthine morphology for evolution of human bipedal locomotion 1988The Middle Stone Age of East Africa and the beginnings of regional identity 1995Morphometry of the primate bony labyrinth: a new method based on high-resolution computed tomography.1996New Late-Pleistocene uranium–thorium and ESR dates for the Singa hominid (Sudan)

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