Kents_Cavern_4
Kents Cavern 4 maxilla
Hominin fossil
The Kents Cavern 4 maxilla is a human fossil consisting of a right canine, third premolar, and first molar as well as the bone holding them together including a small piece of palate.[1] The fossil was found in 1927 at Kents Cavern, a limestone cave in Torquay, Devon, England. The maxilla was uncovered at a depth of 10 feet 6 inches (3.20 m) and was located directly beneath a key ‘granular stalagmite’ at the site, which was used as a datum during excavations undertaken between 1926 and 1941 by the Torquay Natural History Society.[2] The discovery of the KC4 maxilla was important because it became the earliest direct dated anatomically modern human (AMH) fossil yet discovered from a northwestern European site.[3] Moreover the date obtained via a Bayesian statistical-modelling method provides evidence for the coexistence of anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals.
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