Digital reconstruction of the Ceprano calvarium (Italy), and implications for its interpretation

The Ceprano calvarium was discovered in fragments on March 1994 near the town of Ceprano in southern Latium (Italy), embedded in Middle Pleistocene layers. After reconstruction, its morphological features suggests that the specimen belongs to an archaic variant of H. heidelbergensis, representing a proxy for the last common ancestor of the diverging clades that respectively led to H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Unfortunately, the calvarium was taphonomically damaged. The postero-lateral vault, in particular, appears deformed and this postmortem damage may have infuenced previous interpretations. Specifcally, there is a depression on the fragmented left parietal, while the right cranial wall is warped and angulated. This deformation afected the shape of the occipital squama, producing an inclination of the transverse occipital torus. In this paper, after X-ray microtomography (μCT) of both the calvarium and several additional fragments, we analyze consistency and pattern of the taphonomic deformation that afected the specimen, before the computer-assisted retrodeformation has been performed; this has also provided the opportunity to reappraise early attempts at restoration. As a result, we ofer a revised interpretation for the Ceprano calvarium’s original shape, now free from the previous uncertainties, along with insight for its complex depositional and taphonomic history

Pleistocene magnetochronology of early hominin sites at Ceprano and Fontana Ranuccio, Italy

Paleomagnetic analyses were conducted on two cores drilled at Ceprano in central Italy where an incomplete hominin cranium was discovered in 1994, as well as on two additional cores from the nearby site of Fontana Ranuccio that yielded hominin remains associated with an Acheulean industry. No evidence for the 0.78 Ma Brunhes–Matuyama boundary was found at Ceprano down to 45 m below the level that yielded the hominin cranium. The Ceprano lithostratigraphy and the paleomagnetic age constraints are broadly consistent with the stratigraphy of the Liri lacustrine sequence of the Latina Valley, constrained by published K–Ar ages between ~ 0.6 and ~ 0.35 Ma, and according to an age model with magnetic susceptibility supported by pollen facies data, suggest that the level that yielded the hominin cranium has an age of ~ 0.45 (+ 0.05, − 0.10) Ma. Evidence for the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary was found at Fontana Ranuccio about 40 m below the hominin level, consistent with a K–Ar age of ~ 0.46 Ma reported for this level. Hence the Ceprano and Fontana Ranuccio hominin occurrences may be of very similar mid-Brunhes age

Filling the gap. Human cranial remains from Gombore II (Melka Kunture, Ethiopia; ca. 850 ka) and the origin of Homo heidelbergensis

African archaic humans dated to around 1,0 Ma share morphological affinities with Homo ergaster and appear distinct in cranio-dental morphology from those of the Middle Pleistocene that are referred to Homo heidelbergensis. This observation suggests a taxonomic and phylogenetic discontinuity in Africa that ranges across the Matuyama/Brunhes reversal (780 ka). Yet, the fossil record between roughly 900 and 600 ka is notoriously poor. In this context, the Early Stone Age site of Gombore II, in the Melka Kunture formation (Upper Awash, Ethiopia), provides a privileged case-study. In the Acheulean layer of Gombore II, somewhat more recent than 875±10 ka, two large cranial fragments were discovered in 1973 and 1975 respectively: a partial left parietal (Melka Kunture 1) and a right portion of the frontal bone (Melka Kunture 2), which probably belonged to the same cranium. We present here the first detailed description and computer-assisted reconstruction of the morphology of the cranial vault pertaining to these fossil fragments. Our analysis suggest that the human fossil specimen from Gombore II fills a phenetic gap between Homo ergaster and Homo heidelbergensis. This appears in agreement with the chronology of such a partial cranial vault, which therefore represents at present one of the best available candidates (if any) for the origin of Homo heidelbergensis in Africa

Examining the Benefits of Interactive Read-Alouds on Young Children\u27s Vocabulary Development: Preservice Teachers as Researchers

Six pre-service teacher candidates TCs , each engaged in field experiences in Kindergarten or First Grade classrooms at an urban based elementary school compared the impact of interactive read alouds and simple read alouds on children’s Tier two vocabulary meaning acquisition and usage. Each TC read a different trade book that contained at least 8 tier two words to 4 children from the classroom in which they had been assigned for field work. For two of the children, the selected text was read using 5 elaborations for each of the target words as it occurred in the text. For the other two children the same text was read without any elaborations on any of the words. Each child was then asked to retell what had been read. Each child’s usage of the target words during the retelling was noted for occurrence and accuracy of usage. Findings revealed the superiority of the interactive approach in promoting vocabulary growth as well as comprehension

Vegetation context and climatic limits of the Early Pleistocene hominin dispersal in Europe

The vegetation and the climatic context in which the first hominins entered and dispersed in Europe during the Early Pleistocene are reconstructed, using literature review and a new climatic simulation. Both in situ fauna and in situ pollen at the twelve early hominin sites under consideration indicate the occurrence of open landscapes: grasslands or forested steppes. The presence of ancient hominins (Homo of the erectus group) in Europe is only possible at the transition from glacial to interglacial periods, the full glacial being too cold for them and the transition interglacial to glacial too forested. Glacial–interglacial cycles forced by obliquity showed paralleled vegetation successions, which repeated c. 42 times during the course of the Early Pleistocene (2.58–0.78 Ma), providing 42 narrow windows of opportunity for hominins to disperse into Europe. The climatic conditions of this Early Pleistocene vegetation at glacial-interglacial transitions are compared with a climatic simulation for 9 ka ago without ice sheet, as this time period is so far the best analogue available. The climate at the beginning of the present interglacial displayed a stronger seasonality than now. Forest cover would not have been hampered though, clearly indicating that other factors linked to refugial location and soils leave this period relatively free of forests. Similar situations with an offset between climate and vegetation at the beginning of interglacials repeated themselves throughout the Quaternary and benefitted the early hominins when colonising Europe. The duration of this open phase of vegetation at the glacial–interglacial transition was long enough to allow colonisation from the Levant to the Atlantic. The twelve sites fall within rather narrow ranges of summer precipitation and temperature of the coldest month, suggesting the hominins had only a very low tolerance to climate variability

Pleistocene magnetochronology of early hominin sites at Ceprano and Fontana Ranuccio, Italy

Paleomagnetic analyses were conducted on two cores drilled at Ceprano in central Italy where an incomplete hominin cranium was discovered in 1994, as well as on two additional cores from the nearby site of Fontana Ranuccio that yielded hominin remains associated with an Acheulean industry. No evidence for the 0.78 Ma Brunhes–Matuyama boundary was found at Ceprano down to 45 m below the level that yielded the hominin cranium. The Ceprano lithostratigraphy and the paleomagnetic age constraints are broadly consistent with the stratigraphy of the Liri lacustrine sequence of the Latina Valley, constrained by published K–Ar ages between ~ 0.6 and ~ 0.35 Ma, and according to an age model with magnetic susceptibility supported by pollen facies data, suggest that the level that yielded the hominin cranium has an age of ~ 0.45 (+ 0.05, − 0.10) Ma. Evidence for the Brunhes–Matuyama boundary was found at Fontana Ranuccio about 40 m below the hominin level, consistent with a K–Ar age of ~ 0.46 Ma reported for this level. Hence the Ceprano and Fontana Ranuccio hominin occurrences may be of very similar mid-Brunhes age

The Stem Species of Our Species: A Place for the Archaic Human Cranium from Ceprano, Italy

One of the present challenges in the study of human evolution is to recognize the hominin taxon that was ancestral to Homo sapiens. Some researchers regard H. heidelbergensis as the stem species involved in the evolutionary divergence leading to the emergence of H. sapiens in Africa, and to the evolution of the Neandertals in Europe. Nevertheless, the diagnosis and hypodigm of H. heidelbergensis still remain to be clarified. Here we evaluate the morphology of the incomplete cranium (calvarium) known as Ceprano whose age has been recently revised to the mid of the Middle Pleistocene, so as to test whether this specimen may be included in H. heidelbergensis. The analyses were performed according to a phenetic routine including geometric morphometrics and the evaluation of diagnostic discrete traits. The results strongly support the uniqueness of H. heidelbergensis on a wide geographical horizon, including both Eurasia and Africa. In this framework, the Ceprano calvarium – with its peculiar combination of archaic and derived traits – may represent, better than other penecontemporaneous specimens, an appropriate ancestral stock of this species, preceding the appearance of regional autapomorphic features

Before the Emergence of Homo sapiens: Overview on the Early-to-Middle Pleistocene Fossil Record (with a Proposal about Homo heidelbergensis at the subspecific level)

The origin of H. sapiens has deep roots, which include two crucial nodes: (1) the emergence and diffusion of the last common ancestor of later Homo (in the Early Pleistocene) and (2) the tempo and mode of the appearance of distinct evolutionary lineages (in the Middle Pleistocene). The window between 1,000 and 500 thousand years before present appears of crucial importance, including the generation of a new and more encephalised kind of humanity, referred to by many authors as H. heidelbergensis. This species greatly diversified during the Middle Pleistocene up to the formation of new variants (i.e., incipient species) that, eventually, led to the allopatric speciation of H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. The special case furnished by the calvarium found near Ceprano (Italy), dated to 430–385 ka, offers the opportunity to investigate this matter from an original perspective. It is proposed to separate the hypodigm of a single, widespread, and polymorphic human taxon of the Middle Pleistocene into distinct subspecies (i.e., incipient species). The ancestral one should be H. heidelbergensis, including specimens such as Ceprano and the mandible from Mauer

The implementation and effectiveness of Tier 2 Response to Intervention reading comprehension in 4th grade

The purpose of this exploratory investigation is to examine whether the use of the two strategies Stop and Jot and Learning Ally delivered as part of tier-2 Response to Intervention model, will improve the reading comprehension deficits of fourth grade students with reading difficulties. Participants in this study varied in their results, but overall there were positive outcomes. Students were assessed during the pre-intervention phase, intervention phase and post-intervention phase using the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessment. The average participant increased their reading level by one on the Fountas and Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessment. Two students in this study still have significant deficits in reading comprehension and are currently being studied for an auditory processing delay. The other four participants increased their reading comprehension by utilizing the strategies Learning Ally and Stop and Jot. Overall, this study proved to support that utilizing one or both of these strategies will increase a fourth grade student\u27s reading comprehension through tier 2 Response to Intervention. These strategies will be recommended for educators whose students need to increase their reading comprehension