Late Pleistocene age and archaeological context for the hominin calvaria from GvJm-22 (Lukenya Hill, Kenya)

Abstract

The KNM-LH 1 Homo sapiens partial calvaria from site GvJm-22 at Lukenya Hill, Kenya, is a securely dated fossil hominin associated with Late Pleistocene-aged Later Stone Age archaeological deposits from eastern Africa, a time and region important for understanding the origins of modern human diversity. A revised chronology based on 26 AMS radiocarbon dates on ostrich eggshell indicates an age range of 23,576-22,887-years before present (yrBP) for KNM-LH 1, confirming prior attribution to the Last Glacial Maximum. Additional dates extend the maximum age for archaeological deposits at GvJm-22 to >46,000 yr BP. These dates are consistent with new analyses identifying both Middle Stone Age and Later Stone Age lithic technologies at the site, making GvJm-22 a rare eastern African record that spans major human behavioral shifts during the Late Pleistocene. Comparative morphometric analyses of the KNM-LH 1 cranium document the temporal and spatial complexity of early modern human morphological variability. Features of cranial shape distinguish KNM-LH 1 and other Middle and Late Pleistocene African fossil crania from those of recent Africans and samples from