"Mojokerto child died along the seacoast" :-)

http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/erectus/mojokerto_site_rediscovered_2006
..html
Mojokerto site rediscovered?
Huffman OF, Zaim Y, Kappelman J, Ruez DR Jr, de Vos J, Rizal Y, Aziz F &
Hertler C 2006 "Relocation of the 1936 Mojokerto skull discovery site near
Perning, East Java" JHE report on a possible location for the Mojokerto
skull. Swisher CC 3rd, Curtis GH, Jacob T, Getty AG, Suprijo A & Widiasmoro
1994 "Age of the earliest known hominids in Java, Indonesia" Science
263:1118-1121 dated rock from the supposed site to 1.81 Ma. This paper
finds that the real site is a bit above that dated horizon. The abstract:
"The fossil calvaria known as the Mojokerto child's skull was discovered in
1936, but uncertainties have persisted about its paleoenvironmental context
and geological age because of difficulties in relocating the discovery site.
Past relocation efforts were hindered by inaccuracies in old base maps,
intensive post-1930s agricultural terracing, and new tree and brush growth.
Fortunately geologic cross sections and site photographs from 1936-1938 --
not fully utilized in past relocation fieldwork -- closely circumscribe site
geography and geology. These documents match the conditions at just one
sandstone outcrop. It is situated on the southern margin of a topographic
nose at the upper end of a 18 m-wide gully (0663760 m E, 9183430 m N, UTM
Zone 49M), 15 m southeast of the Kumai et al. (1985) relocation. The
relocated discovery bed is 3.3 m of fossiliferous pebbly sandstone, a
river-channel deposit cut into tuffaceous mudstone. The sandstone and
mudstone beds correspond to original site descriptions. Pebbly sandstone is
also found within the skull. The calvaria is well-preserved and
taphonomically similar to large and fragile specimens found among several
hundred vertebrate fossils excavated from the sandstone in 2001-2002. Since
no well-preserved fossils were found intact at the surface of the sandstone,
the good condition of the Mojokerto skull suggests that it was buried fully
when discovered. The relocated hominin bed is the uppermost fluvial
sandstone of a marine-deltaic sequence in the upper Pucangan Formation. The
Mojokerto child probably died along the ancient seacoast, judging from the
large extent of the deltaic facies and evidence that the calvaria
experienced minimal transport. The relocated discovery bed is 20 m
stratigraphically above the horizon from which the widely cited 1.81 +- 0.04
Ma 40Ar39Ar date for the skull (Swisher et al., 1994, Science 263, 1118) was
obtained. Additional field and laboratory results will be required to
determine the skull's age.
The paper gives a good history of attempts to find the original excavation
site. An interesting heterogeneity of the matrix fill inside the skull
(assessed by CT) also factors in the story.
After a long discussion of the complexities in dating the site, they
conclude:
In summary, additional field and analytical results are needed to date the
Mojokerto fossil more exactly than latest Pliocene or early-mid Pleistocene
in age. The 0.3 Ma difference between the 40Ar/39Ar and fission-track age
determinations must be resolved. For any of these radioisotopic dates to be
considered other than a maximum age, better evidence must be advanced to
show that the dated material was erupted shortly before deposition at
Perning. Additional paleontological and magnetostratigraphic control and
radioisotopic dating would seem to be required. Geochronological conclusions
have to be evaluated further in terms of the potential for temporal
stratigraphic breaks in the section, rates of deposition, and the regional
stratigraphic (including sequence stratigraphic) context.
__________

This only confirms what we found on comparative grounds:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AAT

AAT = shoreline adaptations of the genus Homo

* Aquatic Ape Theory of human evolution (original term Morgan 1982)
* Aquarboreal Apes Theory of Mio-Pliocene apes (aqua=water, arbor=tree)
* Amphibious Ancestors Theory of Plio-Pleistocene Homo (AAT strict sense)
AAT s.s. is based on the behavior-anatomy-physiology-DNA of living humans
vs. chimps & other animals. Sea/lake-side ancestors collecting coconuts,
fruits, bird eggs, turtles, shell-, crayfish, algae etc. explains unique
Homo traits (not seen in apes or australopiths) better than plains- or
forest-dwelling : brain size, diving skills, breath control, vocality, small
mouth & chewing muscles, tongue bone descent, longer airway, projecting
nose, poor sense of smell, handiness, tool use, late puberty, long legs,
aligned body, poor climbing, fur loss, fatness, high needs of water, sodium,
iodine & poly-unsaturated fatty acids etc.
Homo & Pan split ~6-4 Ma. In spite of sea level fluctuations (difficult
fossilisation), Homo tools/fossils 2.5-0.1 Ma are found near Rift valley
lakes, Indian Ocean & African coasts : Mojokerto, Dungo V Baia Farta, Terra
Amata, Table Bay, Eritrea etc. (18 km sea crossing to reach Flores
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/outthere.htm ). Most likely, Homo
populations dispersed along coasts & rivers, in savannas & elsewhere.
* Max Westenhöfer 1942 "Der Eigenweg des Menschen" Mannstaede
* Alister Hardy 1960 "Was Man more aquatic in the past?" NS 7:624
* Maggie Roede cs. 1991 "The Aquatic Ape: Fact or Fiction?" Souvenir
* Elaine Morgan 1997 "The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" Souvenir London
* Marc Verhaegen cs. 2002 "Aquarboreal ancestors?" TREE 17:212
* Stephen Cunnane 2005 "Survival of the Fattest" World Scientific
http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Symposium.html

http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/Verhaegen.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AAT







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