New reconstruction of Krapina 5, a male Neandertal cranial vault from Krapina, Croatia

Abstract

The Neandertals from Krapina, Croatia represent some of the geologically oldest Neandertals known, and they comprise the largest Neandertal collection from a single site in the world. However, comparisons of the Krapina material with other, later Neandertals have been limited both because of their fragmentary condition and because the sample has a disproportionate number of females and/or young individuals. This paper presents a preliminary description of our new reconstruction of Krapina 5, an adult male, and provides comparisons with females from Krapina and with later Neandertal males from Western Europe. Like other hominid sites with large samples, there is considerable cranial variation at Krapina; we believe that some, but clearly not all of it is due to sexual dimorphism. Although Krapina 5 differs from the later males in a number of features, such as cranial thickness, cranial height, and sagittal curvature, it fits well within the male Neandertal range for most other metric variables, including cranial capacity. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.