Corrigendum to “Femur associated with the Deep Skull from the West Mouth of the Niah Caves (Sarawak, Malaysia)” [Journal of Human Evolution 127 (2019) 133–148](S0047248418301520)(10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.12.008)

In the original analyses of the Deep Skull femoral midshaft section, anteroposterior (AP) and mediolateral (ML) orientations were transposed, that is, AP and ML second moments of area, as well as linear external breadths, were reversed. Cross-sectional properties were also calculated using an approximate method employing radiographic breadths, while a more accurate method using actual periosteal and endosteal contours is possible given that a complete section is available (MomentMacro; https://fae.johnshopkins.edu/chris-ruff/). When this method is applied and orientations are corrected, the following properties are obtained. C.B. Ruff has been added to the author list of this article as he carried out the analyses that resulted in the new cross-sectional properties. [Table presented] The authors apologize for the original error

Sherds as archaeobotanical assemblages: Gua Sireh reconsidered

The earliest claim for domesticated rice in Island Southeast Asia (4960–3565 cal BP) derives from a single grain embedded in a ceramic sherd from Gua Sireh Cave, Borneo. In a first assessment of spikelet-base assemblages within pottery sherds using quantitative microCT analysis, the authors found no additional rice remains within this sherd to support the early date of rice farming; analysis of a more recent Gua Sireh sherd (1990–830 cal BP), however, indicates that 70 per cent of spikelet bases are from domesticated rice. This technique offers a high degree of contextual and temporal resolution for approaching organic-tempered ceramics as well-preserved archaeobotanical assemblages

Feeling older and wanting to be younger

Two samples of middle-aged women were compared using a questionnaire adapted from Rossi (1980). One sample ( N = 20) consisted of women who felt older than and desired to be younger than their own age. The second sample ( N = 19) was comprised of women who felt and desired to be their own age. Statistically significant differences between the groups were that women who felt older reported more physical changes of aging, less satisfaction with their life context, and more worries than the women who felt their chronological age. Results of this study suggest that current life stress contributes to middle-aged women's perceptions of feeling older and desiring to be younger than their own age.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42987/1/10823_2004_Article_BF00116678.pd

Femur associated with the Deep Skull from the West Mouth of the Niah Caves (Sarawak, Malaysia)

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd The skeletal remains of Pleistocene anatomically modern humans are rare in island Southeast Asia. Moreover, continuing doubts over the dating of most of these finds has left the arrival time for the region's earliest inhabitants an open question. The unique biogeography of island Southeast Asia also raises questions about the physical and cultural adaptations of early anatomically modern humans, especially within the setting of rainforest inhabitation. Within this context the Deep Skull from the West Mouth of the Niah Caves continues to figure prominently owing to its relative completeness and the greater certainty surrounding its geological age. Recovered along with this partial cranium in 1958 were several postcranial bones including a partial femur which until now has received little attention. Here we provide a description and undertake a comparison of the Deep Skull femur finding it to be very small in all of its cross-sectional dimensions. We note a number of size and shape similarities to the femora of Indigenous Southeast Asians, especially Aeta people from the Philippines. We estimate its stature to have been roughly 145–146 cm and body mass around 35 kg, confirming similarities to Aeta females. Its extreme gracility indicated by low values for a range of biomechanical parameters taken midshaft meets expectations for a very small (female) Paleolithic East Asian. Interestingly, the second moment of area about the mediolateral axis is enlarged relative to the second moment of area about the anteroposterior axis, which could potentially signal a difference in activity levels or lifestyle compared with other Paleolithic femora. However, it might also be the result of sexual dimorphism in these parameters as well as possibly reflecting changes associated with aging

Rare Late Pleistocene-early Holocene human mandibles from the Niah Caves (Sarawak, Borneo)

The skeletal remains of Late Pleistocene-early Holocene humans are exceptionally rare in island Southeast Asia. As a result, the identity and physical adaptations of the early inhabitants of the region are poorly known. One archaeological locality that has historically been important for understanding the peopling of island Southeast Asia is the Niah Caves in the northeast of Borneo. Here we present the results of direct Uranium-series dating and the first published descriptions of three partial human mandibles from the West Mouth of the Niah Caves recovered during excavations by the Harrissons in 1957. One of them (mandible E/B1 100") is somewhat younger than the ‘Deep Skull’ with a best dating estimate of c30-28 ka (at 2σ), while the other two mandibles (D/N5 42–48" and E/W 33 24–36") are dated to a minimum of c11.0–10.5 ka (at 2σ) and c10.0–9.0 ka (at 2σ). Jaw E/B1 100" is unusually small and robust compared with other Late Pleistocene mandibles suggesting that it may have been ontogenetically altered through masticatory strain under a model of phenotypic plasticity. Possible dietary causes could include the consumption of tough or dried meats or palm plants, behaviours which have been documented previously in the archaeological record of the Niah Caves. Our work suggests a long history back to before the LGM of economic strategies involving the exploitation of raw plant foods or perhaps dried and stored meat resources. This offers new insights into the economic strategies of Late Pleistocene-early Holocene hunter-gatherers living in, or adjacent to, tropical rainforests

Ancient jades map 3,000 years of prehistoric exchange in Southeast Asia

We have used electron probe microanalysis to examine Southeast Asian nephrite (jade) artifacts, many archeologically excavated, dating from 3000 B.C. through the first millennium A.D. The research has revealed the existence of one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world. Green nephrite from a source in eastern Taiwan was used to make two very specific forms of ear pendant that were distributed, between 500 B.C. and 500 A.D., through the Philippines, East Malaysia, southern Vietnam, and peninsular Thailand, forming a 3,000-km-diameter halo around the southern and eastern coastlines of the South China Sea. Other Taiwan nephrite artifacts, especially beads and bracelets, were distributed earlier during Neolithic times throughout Taiwan and from Taiwan into the Philippines