David W Frayer
Biographic Data
| ID | 88773 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David W Frayer |
| GIVEN NAMES | David W |
| FAMILY NAME | Frayer |
| SIGNATURE | FRAYER D W |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kansas |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2522-5794 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 51 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 847 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 51 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1973 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 16 |
Krapina and the Case for Neandertal Symbolic Behavior
Heated debate surrounds the view that the indigenous Lower and Middle Palaeolithic populations of Europe did not possess the same cognitive capacities as modern humans. Different positions range from the staunch claim that Neanderthals were archaeologically - and thus behaviorally and cognitively - inferior and that contemporaneous Homo sapiens were superior, to opposing claims that Neanderthals were indistinguishable from members of our own Pala…
Longitudinal analysis of the microscopic dental enamel defects of children in the Imperial Roman community of Portus Romae (necropolis of Isola Sacra, 2nd to 4th century CE, Italy)
Tooth grooves, occlusal striations, dental calculus, and evidence for fiber processing in an Italian eneolithic/bronze age cemetery
OBJECTIVES: We conducted a systematic macroscopic and microscopic examination of occlusal and para-occlusal wear in a large dental sample (n = 3,014) from 217 individuals dated to the Early Bronze age site of Gricignano d'Aversa, Italy. We used macroscopic and microscopic techniques to document nondietary occlusal and para-occlusal wear and to analyze calculus inclusions in some of the teeth. In combining an analysis of the wear with the calculus…
Tooth fractures in the Krapina Neandertals
Talking Hyoids and Talking Neanderthals
Right‐handed fossil humans
Fossil hominids often processed material held between their upper and lower teeth. Pulling with one hand and cutting with the other, they occasionally left impact cut marks on the lip (labial) surface of their incisors and canines. From these actions, it possible to determine the dominant hand used. The frequency of these oblique striations in an array of fossil hominins documents the typically modern pattern of 9 right‐ to 1 left‐hander. This ra…
Vergisson 4: A left‐handed N eandertal
The identification of another left-handed Neandertal adds to our understanding about handedness variation in this fossil hominin. Given the high frequency of right-handed Neandertals, the 90: 10 modern ratio is still preserved in this group
The endocast of the one‐million‐year‐old human cranium from Buia (UA 31), Danakil Eritrea
The endocast of UA 31 shows a general plesiomorphic phenotype, with some individual features (e.g., dolichocephaly and rounded lower parietal areas) which confirm a remarkable degree of morphological variability within the H. erectus/ergaster hypodigm. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:458-468, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Cochlear labyrinth volume in Krapina Neandertals
Oh-65: The earliest evidence for right-handedness in the fossil record
Trauma in the Krapina Neandertals
Troubled Times: Violence and Warfare in the Past
Evidence amassed in Troubled Times indicates that, much like in the modern world, violence was not an uncommon aspect of prehistoric dispute resolution. From the civilizations of the American Southwest to the Mesolithic of Central Europe, the contributors examine violence in hunter-gatherer as well as state societies from both the New and Old Worlds. Drawing upon cross-cultural analyses, archaeological data, and skeletal remains, this collection …
Violence Against Women in the La Plata River Valley (A.D. 1000-1300)
Scalp marks stand out as particularly clear evidence of war. As Ostendorf Smith demonstrates, scalping was practiced in North America from ancient times, although much less extensively than after Europeans began paying bounties for them. Skeletal trauma may come from sources as diverse as subsistence activities, spousal abuse, sports, internal coercion, ritual sacrifice and of course war. Weapons constitute another set of evidence. Pacific Northw…
Brief communication: Investigation of the semicircular canal variation in the Krapina Neandertals
Previous studies comparing bony labyrinth morphology in geographically‐dispersed samples of Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens ( H. sapiens ) showed that Neandertals generally have smaller semicircular canals than modern H. sapiens (Hublin et al., ; Spoor et al., ; Glantz et al., ). Here we analyze the morphology of a single group of Neandertal specimens from one locale, the Krapina site, to determine the intraspecific variation in Neandertal se…
The late Early Pleistocene human dental remains from Uadi Aalad and Mulhuli-Amo (Buia), Eritrean Danakil: Macromorphology and microstructure
The iceman as a burial
Since his discovery in 1991 the iceman has been widely seen as meeting a dramatic end - mortally wounded by an arrow shot while attempting to flee through an Alpine pass. A careful study of all the located grave goods, here planned comprehensively for the first time, points strongly towards the scene as one of a ceremonial burial, subsequently dispersed by thawing and gravity. The whole assemblage thus takes on another aspect - not a casual trage…
Aurignacian Male Crania, Jaws and Teeth from the Mladeč Caves, Moravia, Czech Republic
Aurignacian Female Crania and Teeth from the Mladeč Caves, Moravia, Czech Republic
Pygmoid Australomelanesian Homo sapiens skeletal remains from Liang Bua, Flores: Population affinities and pathological abnormalities
Liang Bua 1 (LB1) exhibits marked craniofacial and postcranial asymmetries and other indicators of abnormal growth and development. Anomalies aside, 140 cranial features place LB1 within modern human ranges of variation, resembling Australomelanesian populations. Mandibular and dental features of LB1 and LB6/1 either show no substantial deviation from modern Homo sapiens or share features (receding chins and rotated premolars) with Rampasasa pygm…
A one-million-year-old human pubic symphysis
Unique ramus anatomy for Neandertals
The ramus of Neandertal mandibles is said to show a suite of uniquely Neandertal character states that demonstrate the independent course of Neandertal evolution. This is the latest of numerous attempts to define cranial and mandibular autapomorphies for Neandertals. We examine variation in the four presumably autapomorphic ramal features and show they are neither monomorhic within Neandertals (to the contrary Neandertals are at least as variable…
Some parting words for Jan Jelínek (February 6, 1926-October 3, 2004)
Whynotthe Neandertals
Some workers have suggested that a hypothetical genetic mutation in an African population less than 100,000 years ago led to a cascade of neurological changes in the human brain that culminated in the appearance of modern language. Language then triggered the socioeconomic and cognitive changes we associate with behavioral modernity and Africans, armed with behavioral modernity, then spread out from that continent, out-competing, displacing, exti…
Modern Human Ancestry at the Peripheries: A Test of the Replacement Theory
The replacement theory of modern human origins stipulates that populations outside of Africa were replaced by a new African species of modern humans. Here we test the replacement theory in two peripheral areas far from Africa by examining the ancestry of early modern Australians and Central Europeans. Analysis of pairwise differences was used to determine if dual ancestry in local archaic populations and earlier modern populations from the Levant…
Fossil Evidence for the Origin of Speech Sounds
Theories of Modern Human Origins: The Paleontological Test
Grave Shortcomings: The Evidence for Neandertal Burial [and Comments and Reply]
Sexual dimorphism and cultural evolution in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Europe
Metric dental change in the European upper paleolithic and mesolithic
Evolutionary trends for dental reduction are presented for European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic samples. The analysis demonstrates that the greatest decrease in tooth size occurs between the two divisions of the Upper Paleolithic, while little and insignificant change characterizes the Late Upper Paleolithic/Mesolithic transition. Trends for tooth size over this period indicate that (1) human evolution does not stop with the appearance of “a…
The Functional Significance of Neandertal Pubic Length [and Comments and Reply]
Body Size, Weapon Use, and Natural Selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic
Evidence for a relationship between hunting strategies and body size is examined for human skeletons dating to the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Trends for reduced limb size and stature seem to be correlated with improvements in the types of weapons utilized and a shift from aggressive to more docile game. Although some of these observations fit the predictions of Brues concerning the spearman‐archer model, it is suggested that selec…
The late Early Pleistocene human dental remains from Uadi Aalad and Mulhuli-Amo (Buia), Eritrean Danakil: Macromorphology and microstructure
Ohalo II H2: A 19,000‐year‐old skeleton from a water‐logged site at the Sea of Galilee, Israel
The discovery of well‐preserved human remains at the site of Ohalo II in the northern Jordan Valley substantially augments the meager fossil record of the Levantine late Upper Pleistocene. The Ohalo II H2 specimen, dated to ca. 19,000 B.P., is the most complete early Epipaleolithic hominid discovered in Israel and promises to contribute to the clarification of a number of problematic issues in the local evolution of anatomically modern humans. In…
Artificial grooves on the Krapina Neanderthal teeth
Gross and microscopic examination of the Krapina Neanderthal dental remains reveals the presence of artificial grooves along the cemento‐enamel junction of 14 teeth representing ten different individuals. The grooves display distinct morphological features including their consistent location (primarily on the mesial and/or distal root walls), their troughlike appearance, striations and/or polishing in the channel, and the ridges of reactive cemen…
Whynotthe Neandertals
Some workers have suggested that a hypothetical genetic mutation in an African population less than 100,000 years ago led to a cascade of neurological changes in the human brain that culminated in the appearance of modern language. Language then triggered the socioeconomic and cognitive changes we associate with behavioral modernity and Africans, armed with behavioral modernity, then spread out from that continent, out-competing, displacing, exti…
Getting It Straight
Peer Reviewed
Auditory Exostoses and Evidence for Fishing at Vlasac
A case of chondrodystrophic dwarfism in the Italian late Upper Paleolithic
During excavations by P. Graziosi at Romito Cave near Papasidero (Cosenza) in Calabria, Italy, two skeletons (Romito 1 and 2) were discovered in a common grave. Although the specimens were briefly described by Messeri ( Atti X Riuniuone Scientifica Ist. Ital. Preist. Protest. , pp. 301–307, 1966), it is generally unknown in the anthropological literature that one of these individuals is a chondrodystrophic dwarf. As such, the specimen provides th…
Gigantopithecus and its relationship to Australopithecus
Gigantopithecus blacki and G. bilaspurensis are compared to P. gorilla and Australopithecus. The total morphological pattern of Gigantopithecus mandibles is more similar to Australopithecus than to P. gorilla. Two major points are raised. (1) G. blacki might be considered an aberrant hominid rather than an aberrant pongid. (2) G. bilaspurensis can be considered an equally likely candidate, along with Ramapithecus , for possible hominid ancestry
On the etiology of interproximal grooves
The recent suggestion by Brown and Molnar (1990) that the common etiology of sinew processing is responsible for the production of interproximal tooth grooves is contested. Based on a review of the Australian evidence and presentation of a previously undescribed dentition from Central Europe, it is argued tookpicks are a likely cause of many artificial grooves in human teeth
Krapina and the Case for Neandertal Symbolic Behavior
Heated debate surrounds the view that the indigenous Lower and Middle Palaeolithic populations of Europe did not possess the same cognitive capacities as modern humans. Different positions range from the staunch claim that Neanderthals were archaeologically - and thus behaviorally and cognitively - inferior and that contemporaneous Homo sapiens were superior, to opposing claims that Neanderthals were indistinguishable from members of our own Pala…
The endocast of the one‐million‐year‐old human cranium from Buia (UA 31), Danakil Eritrea
The endocast of UA 31 shows a general plesiomorphic phenotype, with some individual features (e.g., dolichocephaly and rounded lower parietal areas) which confirm a remarkable degree of morphological variability within the H. erectus/ergaster hypodigm. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:458-468, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Brief communication: Investigation of the semicircular canal variation in the Krapina Neandertals
Previous studies comparing bony labyrinth morphology in geographically‐dispersed samples of Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens ( H. sapiens ) showed that Neandertals generally have smaller semicircular canals than modern H. sapiens (Hublin et al., ; Spoor et al., ; Glantz et al., ). Here we analyze the morphology of a single group of Neandertal specimens from one locale, the Krapina site, to determine the intraspecific variation in Neandertal se…
Ramapithecus and Hominid Origins [and Comments and Reply]
The importance of Ramapithecus has traditionally been in the claim that it represents the earliest hominid. It is argued here that the development of Ramapithecus interpretations has been dependent upon the currently accepted theory of hominid origins. In turn, theories of hominid origins have been influenced by the emerging understanding of the ramapithecine adaptive radiation. Recent evidence strongly suggests an ancestry for Pongo among the ra…
Tooth fractures in the Krapina Neandertals
Oh-65: The earliest evidence for right-handedness in the fossil record
Tooth grooves, occlusal striations, dental calculus, and evidence for fiber processing in an Italian eneolithic/bronze age cemetery
OBJECTIVES: We conducted a systematic macroscopic and microscopic examination of occlusal and para-occlusal wear in a large dental sample (n = 3,014) from 217 individuals dated to the Early Bronze age site of Gricignano d'Aversa, Italy. We used macroscopic and microscopic techniques to document nondietary occlusal and para-occlusal wear and to analyze calculus inclusions in some of the teeth. In combining an analysis of the wear with the calculus…
Longitudinal analysis of the microscopic dental enamel defects of children in the Imperial Roman community of Portus Romae (necropolis of Isola Sacra, 2nd to 4th century CE, Italy)
Unique ramus anatomy for Neandertals
The ramus of Neandertal mandibles is said to show a suite of uniquely Neandertal character states that demonstrate the independent course of Neandertal evolution. This is the latest of numerous attempts to define cranial and mandibular autapomorphies for Neandertals. We examine variation in the four presumably autapomorphic ramal features and show they are neither monomorhic within Neandertals (to the contrary Neandertals are at least as variable…
Glottogenesis and Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens: The Evidence for and Implications of a Late Origin of Vocal Language [and Comments and Replies]
Gigantopithecus and its relationship to Australopithecus
Gigantopithecus blacki and G. bilaspurensis are compared to P. gorilla and Australopithecus. The total morphological pattern of Gigantopithecus mandibles is more similar to Australopithecus than to P. gorilla. Two major points are raised. (1) G. blacki might be considered an aberrant hominid rather than an aberrant pongid. (2) G. bilaspurensis can be considered an equally likely candidate, along with Ramapithecus , for possible hominid ancestry
Metric dental change in the European upper paleolithic and mesolithic
Evolutionary trends for dental reduction are presented for European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic samples. The analysis demonstrates that the greatest decrease in tooth size occurs between the two divisions of the Upper Paleolithic, while little and insignificant change characterizes the Late Upper Paleolithic/Mesolithic transition. Trends for tooth size over this period indicate that (1) human evolution does not stop with the appearance of “a…
A Late Woodland Burial from Platte County, Missouri
A skeleton of a female discovered in a grave located on the west bank of Short Creek, Platte County, Missouri provides some of the first evidence for mortuary practices and human morphology for the Western Missouri-Eastern Kansas Late Woodland. The burial is a bundle type, with most of the bones placed in a central heap. Analysis of the distribution of the bones indicates that some soh tissue was still adhering to the skeleton at the time of the …
Sexual dimorphism and cultural evolution in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Europe
Body Size, Weapon Use, and Natural Selection in the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic
Evidence for a relationship between hunting strategies and body size is examined for human skeletons dating to the European Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Trends for reduced limb size and stature seem to be correlated with improvements in the types of weapons utilized and a shift from aggressive to more docile game. Although some of these observations fit the predictions of Brues concerning the spearman‐archer model, it is suggested that selec…
Ramapithecus and Hominid Origins [and Comments and Reply]
The importance of Ramapithecus has traditionally been in the claim that it represents the earliest hominid. It is argued here that the development of Ramapithecus interpretations has been dependent upon the currently accepted theory of hominid origins. In turn, theories of hominid origins have been influenced by the emerging understanding of the ramapithecine adaptive radiation. Recent evidence strongly suggests an ancestry for Pongo among the ra…
Multivariate morphometrics
Oxnard, Charles E. The Order of Man: A Biomathematical Anatomy of the Primates. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984. iii + 366 pp. including photographs, references, index. $30.00 cloth
Biological Anthropology: Palaeopathology of Danish Skeletons: A Comparative Study of Demography, Disease and Injury. Pia Bennike
Artificial grooves on the Krapina Neanderthal teeth
Gross and microscopic examination of the Krapina Neanderthal dental remains reveals the presence of artificial grooves along the cemento‐enamel junction of 14 teeth representing ten different individuals. The grooves display distinct morphological features including their consistent location (primarily on the mesial and/or distal root walls), their troughlike appearance, striations and/or polishing in the channel, and the ridges of reactive cemen…
The supra-acetabular fossa and groove: A skeletal marker for Northwest European mesolithic populations
Abstracts — Second Symposium on Upper Paleolithic
A case of chondrodystrophic dwarfism in the Italian late Upper Paleolithic
During excavations by P. Graziosi at Romito Cave near Papasidero (Cosenza) in Calabria, Italy, two skeletons (Romito 1 and 2) were discovered in a common grave. Although the specimens were briefly described by Messeri ( Atti X Riuniuone Scientifica Ist. Ital. Preist. Protest. , pp. 301–307, 1966), it is generally unknown in the anthropological literature that one of these individuals is a chondrodystrophic dwarf. As such, the specimen provides th…
The Functional Significance of Neandertal Pubic Length [and Comments and Reply]
Auditory Exostoses and Evidence for Fishing at Vlasac
Grave Shortcomings: The Evidence for Neandertal Burial [and Comments and Reply]
Bilateral absence of the lesser trochanter in a Late Epigravettian skeleton from Arene Candide (Italy)
A virtually complete skeleton recovered from excavations in a Late Upper Paleolithic context by Cardini between 1940 and 1942 at the Arene Candide cave (NW Italy) lacks the normal development of the left and right lesser trochanters. The specimen is a short‐statured male about 25 years old and shows no other especially peculiar skeletal irregularities, except for high negative angles of femoral torsion. We discuss a number of possible etiologies …
On the etiology of interproximal grooves
The recent suggestion by Brown and Molnar (1990) that the common etiology of sinew processing is responsible for the production of interproximal tooth grooves is contested. Based on a review of the Australian evidence and presentation of a previously undescribed dentition from Central Europe, it is argued tookpicks are a likely cause of many artificial grooves in human teeth
Obituary: János Nemeskéri, 1914–1989
On Neanderthal Crania and Speech: Response to Lieberman
This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2744283
Glottogenesis and Anatomically Modern Homo Sapiens: The Evidence for and Implications of a Late Origin of Vocal Language [and Comments and Replies]
Theories of Modern Human Origins: The Paleontological Test
Getting It Straight
Peer Reviewed
Ohalo II H2: A 19,000‐year‐old skeleton from a water‐logged site at the Sea of Galilee, Israel
The discovery of well‐preserved human remains at the site of Ohalo II in the northern Jordan Valley substantially augments the meager fossil record of the Levantine late Upper Pleistocene. The Ohalo II H2 specimen, dated to ca. 19,000 B.P., is the most complete early Epipaleolithic hominid discovered in Israel and promises to contribute to the clarification of a number of problematic issues in the local evolution of anatomically modern humans. In…
Fontana Nuova di Ragusa (Sicily, Italy): Southernmost Aurignacian site in Europe
Fontana Nuova di Ragusa, a small rock-shelter in southeast Sicily, was thoroughly excavated by Bernabò Brea in 1949. In the far south of Europe — Sicily is nearly on a latitude with Africa — it has continuing importance as marking a southern geographical limit of Aurignacian settlement, and as proof of humans crossing the strait into island Sicily
Non-dietary Marks in the Anterior Dentition of the Krapina Neanderthals
A sample of 82 anterior teeth from Krapina (Croatia) was studied using a light binocular microscope and a scanning electron microscope to document the presence of non-dietary dental scratches. The patterns of distribution, location and orientation of these marks suggest two different aetiologies: scratches on the labial-occlusal enamel border appear to be related to the action of clenching abrasive materials between teeth, while the scratches pri…
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (32 works) · Archaeology (30 works) · Geography (29 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (27 works) · Biology (24 works) · Paleontology (18 works) · Paleontology (15 works) · History (14 works) · History (11 works) · Anatomy (10 works)