A middle pleistocene fossil hominin maxilla from the Republic of Djibouti (East Africa)

Abstract

The HRD1 hominin maxilla was discovered during fieldwork carried out in the Republic of Djibouti, eastern Africa, in the 1980s. The HRD1 specimen is attributed to the genus Homo and has been dated from the Early to the Middle Pleistocene. This paper presents a detailed morphological and quantitative description of the HRD1 maxilla. The morphology of the dental roots, the enamel thickness, the morphological architecture of the premaxillary-maxillary complex, and the morphology of the maxillary sinus were all examined, yielding the data provided here. The Djiboutian specimen represents one of the late Early to Middle Pleistocene occurrences of Homo in an area where Pleistocene hominins are poorly documented despite a relative abundance of lithic artefacts. However, the precise identification of the specimen remains challenging and requires additional comparative analysis.