Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (3) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.3.118-126

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Bony Labyrinth in Upper Paleolithic Individuals Buried at Sungir

D.I. Razhev¹, S.V. Vasilyev², D.V. Korost³, and S.B. Borutskaya³

¹Institute of the Problems of Northern Development, Tyumen Scientific Center, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Chervishevsky tract 13, Tyumen, 625008, Russia

²Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninsky pr. 32a, Moscow, 119334, Russia

³Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, Moscow, 119234, Russia

The bony labyrinth of the Sungir individuals was studied using the computed tomography scanning on an industrial Phoenix X-ray device. Three-dimensional modeling and visualization were carried out with special software. Crania of an adult (Sungir 1) and two children (Sungir 2 and 3) were analyzed. Findings reveal that bilateral asymmetry is insignificant. Individual variation range suggests that the group is morphologically homogeneous. Comparison of averages with those of Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans demonstrates overall similarity with the latter and significant difference from the former in key traits. Based on results of the discriminant analysis, children unambiguously fall in the H. sapiens group, while the adult is halfway between the latter and the Neanderthal sample. But such a finding is neither exceptional nor even rare. A Neanderthal-like morphology of the bony labyrinth (large lateral semicircular canal and high sagittal index) occurs in a small number of Upper Paleolithic humans of the modern morphological type. The Sungir adult belongs to this group.

Keywords: Upper Paleolithic man from Sungir, bony labyrinth, computed tomography, semicircular canals, Neanderthals, humans of the modern morphological type