Abstract:

Traumas on the skulls of ancient human fossils were observed very early, which can be dated back to a hundred years ago, and have been investigated since then. It not only demonstrates health and life situation of Homos, but also reveals the interaction between humans and animals, as well as that among humans, for instance, potential violent conflicts. As a result, it is meaningful to study the potential traumas on Homo fossils. Homo erectus fossils excavated at the Zhoukoudian (ZKD) site in 1920s-1930s had received worldwide attention for nearly a century, being one of the most significant comparative materials for exploring human evolution. While most researchers concentrated on the morphological characteristics and features, or evolutionary status of ZKD Homo erectus, few paid attentions to the superficial traits on the vaults, except for Weidenreich. In his monograph, The Skull of Sinanthropus Pekinensis: A Comparative Study on a Primitive Hominid Skull, he claimed to have found multiple signs of interpersonal violence on many vaults of ZKD Homo erectus, including ZKD-5, ZKD-10, ZKD-11 & ZKD-12, and maybe there is cannibalism in this group of humans. However, it is difficult to confirm his opinion and lucubrate it since the original fossils were lost during the World War II. Subsequently, Boaz et al. claimed to have found carnivorous bite marks on the orbital of ZKD-5, and speculated that this individual might have died from predation by large predators like Hyena. In this article, we used the frontal-parietal fragment of the only preserved fossil of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus ZKD-5 unearthed in 1966, aging approximately from 0.3 to 0.5 MaBP, as material. The original fossil is now curated in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Gross observation, cytopethoscopy and high-precision CT technique were used to observe and identify surface traits and internal anatomical structures of the specimen. Our study found traumatic injuries in addition to carnivorous bite marks reported previously on the orbital region of ZKD-5 frontal-parietal bone, positioned on the anterior and superior portion of the right supraorbital torus, with healing sighs observed. It is highly possible that they could be non-fatal blunt force traumas caused by interpersonal violence, but the possibility of accidental fall or bump cannot be ruled out. The trauma of ZKD-5 is a new discovery of skull trauma of Middle Pleistocene hominid in East Asia after Nanjing/Hulu Cave 1, Maba 1 and Hexian, adding a new case to the record of Middle Pleistocene hominid trauma worldwidely.

Key words: Zhoukoudian, Homo erectus, Skull, Trauma