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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Dissection, MicroCT Scanning and Morphometric Analyses of the Baculum
Published on: March 19, 2017
Shanidar 10: a Middle Paleolithic immature distal lower limb from Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan
Libby W Cowgill1, Erik Trinkaus, Melinda A Zeder
1Department of Anthropology, Campus Box 1114, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. lwcowgil@artsci.wustl.edu
Abstract:
The analysis of the faunal remains from Shanidar Cave has identified an incomplete immature human distal leg and foot from the deepest levels of the Middle Paleolithic of Shanidar Cave, Iraq. The distal tibia, fibula, first metatarsal, and two tarsals, designated Shanidar 10, derive from a 1-2-year-old infant. The tibia exhibits a transverse line from a stress episode during the last quarter of its first year postnatal. The cross-sectional geometry of the tibial midshaft reveals modest cortical thickening and a level of diaphyseal robusticity similar to those of recent human infants of a similar developmental age.
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