Evidence for new Neanderthal teeth in Tabun Cave (Israel) by the application of self-organizing maps (SOMs) Alfredo Coppa a, * , Franz Manni b , Chris Stringer c , Rita Vargiu a , Francesco Vecchi a a Department of Animal and Human Biology, Section of Anthropology, University of Rome ‘‘La Sapienza’’, 5 Piazzale Aldo Moro, Rome 00185, Italy b UMR 5145, Eco- Anthropology Group, National Museum of Natural History, MNHN - Muse ´e de l’Homme, 17 Place du Trocade ´ro, Paris 75016, France c Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK Received 25 May 2005; accepted 7 November 2006 Abstract Morphological and metrical study suggested that seven human teeth from Tabun Cave, Israel were part of the upper dentition of a single, probably Neanderthal, individual renumbered as Tabun BC7. An enamel fragment gave ESR age estimates of 82  14 ka (early U-uptake) and 92  18 ka (linear uptake) and an age estimate of 90 þ30 16 ka using U-series disequilibrium. Although metrical analyses suggested Neanderthal affinities, definitive assessment was difficult as the values often fell into the ranges of both Neanderthal and Levantine early modern human samples. Therefore, two further classification analyses were conducted (neural networks using self-organizing maps and homogeneity analysis). Both identify Tabun BC7 as a Neanderthal. Neural networks are a promising tool for paleoanthropological studies as they can provide reliable classifications even with incomplete data. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Pleistocene; Human teeth; Neural networks; Homogeneity analysis Introduction Seven human teeth from Tabun Cave, Israel, (right I 1 ,I 2 , M 1 ,M 2 ,M 3 , and left M 2 ,M 3 ) were tentatively identified in the Catalogue of Fossil Hominids (Oakley et al., 1975) as de- riving from Tabun Layer A (Bronze Age to Recent). However, further morphological and metrical study has suggested that they represent part of the upper dentition of a single individ- ual, probably a Neanderthal, renumbered as Tabun BC7 (Coppa et al., 2005). A fragment of dental enamel of Tabun BC7 was removed for ESR and U-series analysis, and was as- signed to Layer B based on its dose values. This enamel yields preliminary ESR age estimates of 82  14 ka (early U-uptake) and 92  18 ka (linear uptake), and an age estimate of 90 þ30 16 ka using U-series disequilibrium. Metric analysis of the crowns, and in particular of the buccolingual diameters of the two incisors, placed them in the range of variability character- istic of the Neanderthals rather than anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMH). On the other hand, analysis of the molars was insufficient for a definitive taxonomic assessment since the values obtained fell into the ranges of both the Nean- derthals and Levantine AMH (Coppa et al., 2005). The absence of other skeletal remains relating to this sam- ple makes assignment to a specific taxon difficult. The uses of dental metric and morphological traits in the study of taxo- nomic and phylogenetic relationships were highlighted by Smith (1989). Earlier studies (Gorjanovic-Kramberger, 1906, 1907; Keith, 1925; McCown and Keith, 1939) underlined the particular importance of morphological traits in phylogenetic studies. After Weidenreich’s study (1937), which pointed out how morphological traits could represent a possible expression of regional variation as well as evolutionary grade, dental non- metric characters lost importance for classification purposes, and tooth size has been emphasized instead (Smith, 1977a,b; Frayer, 1978, 1984; Brace, 1979; Wolpoff, 1980). However, * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 6 49912350; fax: þ39 6 49912771. E-mail address: alfredo.coppa@uniroma1.it (A. Coppa). 0047-2484/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.009 Journal of Human Evolution 52 (2007) 601e613