Fossil human jaw bone helps fill the gaps on what we know about humans moving between Asia and Australia

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-09-30 04:00

Australia; QLD; ACT

Fig 6. Right maxilla and frontal process (Maros-LBB-1a) from Layer 4a at Leang Bulu Bettue. (a-b) right and left lateral views of the right maxilla (after reconstruction). The small point of contact between the dental portion and nasal pillar is obscured by glue and plasticine; (c) inferior view of the right palate; (d) detail of the lingual sides of the extant first to third right upper molars (M1 toM3), showing the extreme degree of occlusal attrition on theM1 andM3. TheM1 had lost its crown by extreme wear and there are abscess cavities around the root tips, owing to the exposure of dental pulp cavities. TheM3 retains its enamel only at the mesiobuccal corner. Only theM2 has a normal occlusal plane. TheM2 still retains much of its occlusal enamel but is considerably over-erupted, suggesting that its opposing tooth (M2) had been lost while the individual was alive; (e) anterior view of the reconstruction of the right maxilla and frontal process. The scale in (a-c) is in 10 mm increments; in (e) the scale bar is 10 mm. Photo credits: Ratno Sardi (a-d); David Bulbeck (e).

Aussie researchers have discovered the first fossil evidence of modern human remains from the Pleistocene era - which ended around 12,000 years ago - on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The island is a key location in our understanding of how modern humans moved between Asia and Australia. The lack of fossilised human remains from this region means that our knowledge of how humans first moved into the region, and then moved between islands, is limited. The authors say this new find could fit with several different models of migration through the region, and while it cannot give us a definitive answer on which model is right, it is still of value as it shows that early modern humans were present in a region that may have been host to multiple species of ancient human.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Griffith University, The Australian National University, The University of Queensland

Funder: The excavations at Leang Bulu Bettue are funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship awarded to A.B. (FT160100119), along with financial support from Griffith University. The ARC had no role in study design, data analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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