L'Enfant Homo 11 de Qafzeh (Israël) et son apport à la compréhension des modalités de la croissance des squelettes moustériens

Abstract

The Qafzeh 11 skeleton is compared with those of neanderthalian children of the same approximate age (H.s. neanderthalensis), the Predmost VII adolescent and modern children (H.s. sapiens). The comparison is also made with the adult skeletons found at the same site. New dala on cranial ontogeny among Proto-cromagnoids are provided, along with the identification of three main types of characters : the modern (prevalent), archaic and juvenile. The combination of these characters at this ontogenetic stage (12-13 years) leads to subdivisions within the three categories whose phylogenetic meaning is specified. Qafzeh 11 has a mixture of characters, thereby giving him a special position within the Qafzeh population.