View source for Kabwe 1

{{Short description|Hominin fossil}}
{{coor|14.460|S|28.426|E|display=title}}
{{Infobox fossil
|catalog number =
|common name = Kabwe 1
|image = Broken Hill Skull (Replica01).jpg
|caption = Replica (Museum Mauer, Germany)
|species = ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]'' (''[[Homo rhodesiensis]]'')
|age = 324-274 ka
|place discovered =
|date discovered = 1921
|discovered by =  Tom Zwiglaar
}}
'''Kabwe 1''', also known as the '''Broken Hill skull''' and '''Rhodesian Man''', is a [[Middle Paleolithic]] fossil assigned by [[Arthur Smith Woodward]] in 1921 as the type specimen for ''[[Homo rhodesiensis]]'', now mostly considered a synonym of  ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''.<ref name=Hublin>Hublin, J.-J. (2013), "The Middle Pleistocene Record. On the Origin of Neandertals, Modern Humans and Others" in: David R. Begun (ed.), ''A Companion to Paleoanthropology'', John Wiley, pp. 517-537 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=oIoT1RcFeCwC&pg=PT375 p. 523]).</ref>
The [[Human cranium|cranium]] was discovered in [[Kabwe mine|Broken Hill mine]], a [[lead]] and [[zinc]] mine in [[Northern Rhodesia]] (now [[Kabwe]], [[Zambia]]) on 17 June 1921<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/zambia-resolute-recovering-broken-hill-man-britain/ |author=Chambo Ng'uni|title=Zambia resolute on recovering Broken Hill Man from Britain – Zambia Daily Mail |publisher=Daily-mail.co.zm |date=2015-01-10 |accessdate=2018-06-04}} "Records at Kabwe Municipal Council reveal that the skull was discovered in Mutwe wa Nsofu area during mining excavation. The cave where the remains were found seemed to have served as a shelter and camping place for the early man. Animal bones were also discovered and they represented the remains of meals and these were predominantly of antelope. Having been discovered at Broken Hill Mine where mining started around 1904, the skull was later named Broken Hill Man. The skull was complete and its features were recognizable. It had a round perforation of the borne that could have been caused by a wooden pointed spear. Discovered along with the skull were parts of the face of the second individual, a thigh bone, shin bone, part of the bones of the pelvis, a sacrum, part of the bone of the upper arm, a quantity of animal bones, some stones and primitive bone implements."<!--The skull of Broken Hill Man was discovered in 1921 at this site on Mulungushi Road near an old mine in the then Broken Hill now called Kabwe. --></ref> by Tom Zwiglaar, a Swiss [[Mining|miner]]; and an African miner whose name was not recorded.<ref name=Atlantic>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/02/zambian-skull-londons-natural-history-museum/582820/ |title=Zambia's Most Famous Skulls Might Finally Be Headed Home |last=Balter |first=Michael |date=2019-02-18 |website=www.theatlantic.com |publisher=The Atlantic |access-date=2019-02-18}}</ref> In addition to the cranium, an upper [[jaw]] from another individual, a [[sacrum]], a [[tibia]], and two [[femur]] fragments were also found. The skull was dubbed "Rhodesian Man" at the time of the find, but is now commonly referred to as the Broken Hill skull or the Kabwe cranium.
The skull is kept in the [[Natural History Museum, London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/collections-at-the-museum/museum-treasures/broken-hill-skull/index.html|title=Collections - Natural History Museum|website=www.nhm.ac.uk}}</ref>
==Discovery==
Details of the skull's recovery were recorded by [[Aleš Hrdlička]], an anthropologist with the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref name=Atlantic/> Swiss miner Tom Swiglaar and an unnamed African miner uncovered the skull on 17 June 1921 while working an ore pocket within the mine.<ref name=Atlantic/> The skull was shown to the mine's managers, who photographed it being held by Swiglaar.<ref name=Atlantic/> It was then examined by a doctor at Broken Hill, who recognized it as a fossil of potential scientific importance.<ref name=Atlantic/> Several months later, the Rhodesia Broken Hill Mine Company shipped it to England, donating it to the [[British Museum]] in London.<ref name=Atlantic/> There it was examined by paleontologist [[Arthur Smith Woodward]] and identified as belonging to a new species, then identified as ''[[Homo rhodesiensis]]''.<ref name=Atlantic/>
==Date==
The destruction of the paleoanthropological site has made stratigraphic dating impossible. Prior to the 1970s, the skull was believed to be only 30-40,000 years old.<ref name=Brittanica>{{cite encyclopedia |entry-url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kabwe-cranium |entry=Kabwe cranium |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref> In 1974, Bada et al. (1974) established a direct date of 110 [[kyr|ka]], measured by [[aspartic acid]] [[racemisation]].<ref>Bada, Jeffrey L., Roy A. Schroeder, Reiner Protsch, and Rainer Berger. [http://www.pnas.org/content/71/3/914.abstract Concordance of Collagen-Based Radiocarbon and Aspartic-Acid Racemization Ages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320213312/http://www.pnas.org/content/71/3/914.abstract |date=2015-03-20}} PNAS abstract URL. {{cite journal|title=Amino Acid Racemization Dating of Fossil Bones |year=1985 |publisher=Arjournals.annualreviews.org |doi=10.1146/annurev.ea.13.050185.001325 |last1=Bada |first1=J. L. |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |volume=13 |pages=241–268 |bibcode=1985AREPS..13..241B }}</ref> The Smithsonian Institution suggested in 2010 an age between 150,000 and 300,000 years old, with an upper bound of 500,000 years suggested by animal fossils collected from the site.<ref name=SI>{{cite web |url=http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/kabwe-1 |title=Kabwe 1 |website=humanorigins.si.edu |date=30 January 2010 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |access-date=2019-02-18 }}</ref><ref name=Brittanica/> A new technique applied to the skull allowed quarter-millimetre thick fragments to be removed and the skull therefore dated directly, with the new estimated age range, published in 2020, being 324,000 to 274,000 years ago.<ref name=Grün2020>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/s41586-020-2165-4| issn = 1476-4687| volume = 580| issue = 7803| pages = 372–375| last1 = Grün| first1 = Rainer| last2 = Pike| first2 = Alistair| last3 = McDermott| first3 = Frank| last4 = Eggins| first4 = Stephen| last5 = Mortimer| first5 = Graham| last6 = Aubert| first6 = Maxime| last7 = Kinsley| first7 = Lesley| last8 = Joannes-Boyau| first8 = Renaud| last9 = Rumsey| first9 = Michael| last10 = Denys| first10 = Christiane| last11 = Brink| first11 = James| last12 = Clark| first12 = Tara| last13 = Stringer| first13 = Chris| title = Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution| journal = Nature| date = 2020-04-01| pmid = 32296179| bibcode = 2020Natur.580..372G| s2cid = 214736650| url = https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/439146/1/Grun_Broken_Hill_submission.pdf}}</ref>
==Morphology==
[[File:Rhodesian Man.jpg|thumb|Lateral view]]
[[Human brain#Structure|Cranial capacity]] of the Broken Hill skull has been estimated at 1,230&nbsp;cm³.<ref>Rightmire, G. Philip. [https://books.google.com/books?id=edFD6el38mAC&dq=Ndutu+hominid&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 The Evolution of ''Homo erectus'': Comparative Anatomical Studies of an Extinct Human Species] Cambridge University Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-521-44998-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-44998-4}}.</ref> The  skull suggests an extremely robust individual with the comparatively largest [[supraorbital ridge|brow-ridges]] of any known hominin. It was described as having a broad face similar to that of  ''[[Neanderthal|Homo neanderthalensis]]'' (i.e. large nasal bones and thick protruding brow ridges).
The skull has cavities in ten of the upper teeth and is considered one of the oldest known occurrences of cavities.  Pitting indicates significant infection before death and implies that the cause of death may have been due to [[tooth_decay|dental disease infection]] or possibly chronic [[ear infection]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}
==Classification==
Initially, the skull was classified as belonging to a novel species, ''Homo rhodesiensis'', which is now generally classified as a synonym for African subspecies of  ''[[Homo heidelbergensis]]''. While the cranial volume overlaps with the range of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'', other features such as the [[brain case]] morphology and prominent brow ridges are suggestive of older species.<ref name=Atlantic/> These features have led some scientists to the conclusion that ''Homo heidelbergensis'' represents a transitional phase between the earlier ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and modern humans and [[Neanderthal]]s.<ref name=Atlantic/> As of 2019, no attempts to extract [[DNA]] or sequence a genome from the Kabwe skull have been successful.<ref name=Atlantic/> Results of radiometric dating of matrix associated with Kabwe 1 place the age estimate of Kabwe 1 at 299,000 years old, virtually about the same age as the earliest ''Homo sapiens''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grün |first1=Rainer |last2=Pike |first2=Alistair |last3=McDermott |first3=Frank |last4=Eggins |first4=Stephen |last5=Mortimer |first5=Graham |last6=Aubert |first6=Maxime |last7=Kinsley |first7=Lesley |last8=Joannes-Boyau |first8=Renaud |last9=Rumsey |first9=Michael |last10=Denys |first10=Christiane |last11=Brink |first11=James |last12=Clark |first12=Tara |last13=Stringer |first13=Chris |title=Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution |journal=Nature |date=1 April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7803 |pages=372–375 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2165-4 |pmid=32296179 |bibcode=2020Natur.580..372G |s2cid=214736650 |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/439146/1/Grun_Broken_Hill_submission.pdf }}</ref> In October 2021, it was suggested the skull was a late surviving representative of the newly defined species, ''[[Homo bodoensis]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roksandic|first1=Mirjana|last2=Radović|first2=Predrag|last3=Wu|first3=Xiu-Jie|last4=Bae|first4=Christopher J.|title=Resolving the "muddle in the middle": The case for Homo bodoensis sp. nov.|journal=Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews|year=2021|volume=31|issue=1|pages=20–29|language=en|doi=10.1002/evan.21929|pmid=34710249|pmc=9297855 |s2cid=240152672|issn=1520-6505}}</ref>
==Possible repatriation==
Since the 1970s, the government of [[Zambia]] has petitioned the United Kingdom for custody of the Kabwe skull, citing a number of international laws and treaties on cultural artifacts as well as colonial-era laws made by the United Kingdom.<ref name=Atlantic/> According to the interpretation of the 1912 [[Bushman Relics Proclamation]] offered by the Zambian government, it was unlawful in 1921 to remove cultural relics from Northern Rhodesia without a permit from the [[British South Africa Company]], which it maintains was not issued to the Broken Hill mining company prior to its donation of the skull to the British Museum.<ref name=Atlantic/> In May 2018, at a meeting of the [[UNESCO]] World Heritage Committee, British delegates agreed to negotiations with Zambia regarding eventual repatriation of the artifact, accompanied by agreements regarding access to the skull and associated scans and digital data by researchers.<ref name=Atlantic/>
==See also==
* [[Bodo cranium]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Peopling of Africa]]
[[Category:Homo heidelbergensis fossils]]
[[Category:1921 archaeological discoveries]]