Excavations in Middle Paleolithic levels at the “Bau de l’Aubésier (Vaucluse)” during 2000 yielded a maxillary molar and a partial mandible from late Middle Pleistocene levels, plus a maxillary molar from the early Late Pleistocene. The Middle Pleistocene remains (Aubesier 10 and 11) have close morphological affinities to contemporaneous European human remains, and the Neandertal molar (Aubesier 12) falls well within Neandertal ranges of variation. The teeth are notable for a toothpick groove on Aubesier 10 and the large dental caries in Aubesier 12. The Aubesier 11 mandible exhibits extensive pathological alterations of the alveolar process, indicating serious impairment of mastication.Des fouilles dans les niveaux du Paléolithique moyen du Bau de l’Aubésier (Vaucluse) en 2000 ont livré une molaire supérieure et une grande partie d’une mandibule des niveaux du Pléistocène moyen tardif ainsi qu’une molaire supérieure du début du Pléistocène supérieure. Les restes du Pléistocène moyen (Aubésier 10 et 11) ont des affinités morphologiques avec les autres restes humains contemporaines d’Europe, et la molaire néandertalienne (Aubésier 12) est bien dans la variation des Néandertaliens. Sur Aubésier 10 se remarque un sulcus de cure-dent, ainsi qu’une grande carie dentaire sur Aubésier 12. La mandibule Aubésier 11 montre des altérations pathologiques au niveaux des alvéoles, ce qui indique une mastication difficile

Lebel, S.

Trinkaus, E.

OpenEdition

 Bulletins et mémoires de la Société
d’Anthropologie de Paris 
13 (1-2) | 2001
2001(1-2)
New discoveries of Middle Paleolithic human
remains from the “Bau de l'Aubésier (Vaucluse,
France)”
Nouvelles découvertes de restes humains du Paléolithique moyen du Bau de
l'Aubésier (Vaucluse, France)
S. Lebel and E. Trinkaus
Electronic version
URL: http://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/5623
ISSN: 1777-5469
Publisher
Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
Printed version
Date of publication: 1 June 2001
ISSN: 0037-8984
 
Electronic reference
S. Lebel and E. Trinkaus, « New discoveries of Middle Paleolithic human remains from the “Bau de
l'Aubésier (Vaucluse, France)” », Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris [Online], 13
(1-2) | 2001, Online since 14 January 2010, connection on 20 April 2019. URL : http://
journals.openedition.org/bmsap/5623 
© Société d’anthropologie de Paris
Bull. et Mém. de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, n.s., t. 13, 2001, 1-2, p. 15-21.
NEW DISCOVERIES OF MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC HUMAN REMAINS
FROM THE “BAU DE L’AUBÉSIER (VAUCLUSE, FRANCE)”
NOUVELLES DÉCOUVERTES DE RESTES HUMAINS DU PALÉOLITHIQUE
MOYEN DU BAU DE L’AUBÉSIER (VAUCLUSE, FRANCE)
Serge LEBEL 1, Erik TRINKAUS 2
ABSTRACT
Excavations in Middle Paleolithic levels at the “Bau de l’Aubésier (Vaucluse)” during
2000 yielded a maxillary molar and a partial mandible from late Middle Pleistocene levels,
plus a maxillary molar from the early Late Pleistocene. The Middle Pleistocene remains
(Aubesier 10 and 11) have close morphological affinities to contemporaneous European
human remains, and the Neandertal molar (Aubesier 12) falls well within Neandertal ranges
of variation. The teeth are notable for a toothpick groove on Aubesier 10 and the large dental
caries in Aubesier 12. The Aubesier 11 mandible exhibits extensive pathological alterations
of the alveolar process, indicating serious impairment of mastication.
Keywords: Neandertals, Pre-Neandertals, Middle Paleolithic, Mandible, Teeth, Caries,
Human Paleontology, Paleopathology.
RÉSUMÉ
Des fouilles dans les niveaux du Paléolithique moyen du Bau de l’Aubésier (Vaucluse) en
2000 ont livré une molaire supérieure et une grande partie d’une mandibule des niveaux du
Pléistocène moyen tardif ainsi qu’une molaire supérieure du début du Pléistocène
supérieure. Les restes du Pléistocène moyen (Aubésier 10 et 11) ont des affinités morpho -
logiques avec les autres restes humains contemporaines d’Europe, et la molaire néan -
dertalienne (Aubésier 12) est bien dans la variation des Néandertaliens. Sur Aubésier 10 se
remarque un sulcus de cure-dent, ainsi qu’une grande carie dentaire sur Aubésier 12. La
mandibule Aubésier 11 montre des altérations pathologiques au niveaux des alvéoles, ce qui
indique une mastication difficile.
1. Département des Sciences de la Terre, Université de Québec à Montréal. Casse postale 8888, s u c c u r s a l e
Centre Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada, (E-mail: lebel.serge@uqam.ca).
2. Department of Anthropology, Campus Box 1114, Washington University, Saint Louis MO 63130, USA
(E-mail: trinkaus@artsci.wustl.edu) & U.M.R. 5809 du C.N.R.S., Laboratoire d’Anthropologie des
Populations du Passé, Université Bordeaux 1, 33405 Talence, France.
INTRODUCTION
Excavations at different times during the twentieth century at the “Bau de l’Aubésier”,
in the “Gorges de la Nesque, commune de Monieux, Vaucluse, France” (44° 05’ N, 5°
21’ E), yielded a series of isolated human teeth from the three stratigraphic complexes,
including a Middle Pleistocene Middle Paleolithic one (Layer K), an early Late
Pleistocene Middle Paleolithic one (Layer IV) and an Upper Paleolithic to recent one
(Layer II) (Moulin, 1904; Lumley, 1973; Trinkaus et al., 2000a). These remains,
Aubesier 1 to 9, have been previously described morphologically and paleopathologically
(Moulin, 1904; Lumley, 1973; Trinkaus et al., 2000a,b). Ongoing excavations at the
“Bau de l’Aubésier” during 2000 yielded additional human remains, including a
maxillary molar from Layer I-3 (Aubesier 10), a partial mandible from Layer I-2
(Aubesier 11) and a maxillary molar from Layer IV (Aubesier 12) (Lebel et al., 2001;
Lebel & Trinkaus, n.d.). This note is intended as an illustrated preliminary announcement of
these remains; more detailed descriptions will follow.
STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT
The Aubesier 10 and 11 remains, from Layers I-3 and I-2 respectively, derive from
an archeologically rich stratigraphic complex immediately below the lower
combustion zone, layer H-1. They are associated with a relatively laminar Typical
Mousterian industry and a faunal macromammalian complex indicating a later Middle
Pleistocene age for the deposits (Lebel et al., 2001). This assessment is supported by
thermoluminescence dating of Layer H-1 (Lebel et al. , 2001). The Aubesier 12 molar
derives from Layer IV, which on the basis of its Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblage and
associated macromammalian remains, derives from the early Late Pleistocene
(Fernandez et al., 1998; Fernandez, 2001).
AUBESIER 10
The Aubesier 10 maxillary molar consists of a slightly worn right M1 or M2 with
minimal marginal postmortem erosion (fig. 1). Its buccolingual crown diameter of
12.0 mm is similar to those of late Middle Pleistocene (300 to 100 ka B.P.) European
maxillary molars (M1: 12.3 ± 0.9, N = 14; M2: 12.7 ± 0.8, N = 14). It is notable for its
pronounced taurodontism, in which the clefts between the roots are 72.7%, 75.3% and
79.2% of the maximum height of the root; this represents expansion of the pulp chamber,
as is evident between the root tips, and not merely bridging between separate roots. In
16 S. LEBEL, E. TRINKAUS
addition, the tooth presents a clear
mesial interproximal “toothpick”
groove (or abrasive non-carious cervical
lesion [Levitch et al., 1994; Ungar et
al., 2001]), broadest (2.3 mm) at its
lingual end and tapering off buccally
(fig. 1). It is shallow, polished, has sharp
margins, and exhibits fine buccolingual
wear striae within it.
AUBESIER 11
The Aubesier 11 mandible is preserved from the left C1/P3 interdental septum to the
beginning of the condyle, with minor damage to the right symphyseal area (a
postmortem crack with slight separation of the adjacent pieces) and to gonion, plus loss
of the coronoid process (fig. 2 to 4). The mandible presents a series of morphological
features that align it closely with later Middle Pleistocene Neandertal-lineage specimens,
including a rounded and strongly retreating anterior mandibular symphysis, the incipient
presence of a mental trigone, a modest planum alveolare, an inferior lingual torus, the
anterior marginal tubercle at P4/M1, the mental foramen at the level of the P4/M1
interdental septum extending to the M1, a short and broad corpus, a prominent horizontal
lateral eminence, a distinctive retromolar space in norma lateralis, an open mandibular
foramen (the absence of lingular [horizontal-oval] bridging), a prominent superior
medial pterygoid tubercle, and the intersection of the mandibular notch crest with the
NEW DISCOVERIES OF MIDDLE PAEOLITHIC HUMAN REMAINS 17
Fig. 1 - Mesial view of the Aubesier 10 right
M1 or M2, showing the clear toothpick
groove extending from the lingual side of the
cervix.
middle third of the mandibular condyle.
These features occur in between 50%
and 100% of late Middle Pleistocene
Neandertal lineage mandibles (Lebel
et al., 2001). In particular, Aubesier 11
resembles morphologically most closely
the late Middle Pleistocene “La Niche
( M ontmaurin)” 1 mandible, diff e r i n g
only in the presence of a clear retromolar
space.
18 S. LEBEL, E. TRINKAUS
Fig. 2 - Superior view of the Aubesier
11 mandible.
F i g . 3 - Lateral view of
the Aubesier 11 mandible,
showing the corporeal and
ramal morphology and the
resorption of the labial /
buccal alveolar bone.
Fig. 4 - Medial view of the
Aubesier 11 right mandibular
posterior corpus and ramus,
showing the morphological
configurations of the medial
pterygoid insertion and the
mandibular foramen, plus the
fenestration from the M3
socket.
The Aubesier 11 mandible is most notable for its extensive pathological alteration
of the alveolar process. The M2 was lost antemortem, and many of the other teeth were
probably lost prior to death. All of the labial alveolar bone from the left C1 to the right
M3 and the lingual alveolar bone from the left mid-M1 to M3 was resorbed antemortem,
and there are fossae from periapical abscesses in the vicinities of the incisors and the M3,
including a lingual fenestration from the M3 socket. Furthermore, the right C1 and P3
root tips remain within their sockets, approximately 1 cm below the preserved lingual
alveolar bone, but experienced antemortem attrition. The etiology of these lesions r e m a i n s
u n c l e a r, but it is likely that the extensive alveolar resorption, dental loss, and abscesses were
the products of antemortem trauma and/or dental attrition leading to extensive periodontal-
endodontal lesions, whose presence would have made mastication painful and mec h a n i c a l l y
i n e ffectual. In this, Aubesier 11 is unique among known Middle Pleistocene or earlier human
specimens in having significant impairment of mastication.
AUBESIER 12
The Aubesier 12 maxillary molar consists of a moderately worn right M1 or M2
with postmortem loss of a chip of enamel from the distobuccal crown corner and of most
of the lingual root (fig. 5). The tooth morphology is unremarkable for a Neandertal M1
or M2, and its buccolingual diameter (12.2 mm) is close to the means of European
Neandertal M1s (12.0 ± 0.8 mm, N = 25) and M2s (12.5 ± 1.1 mm, N = 18). There is no
evidence of taurodontism.
NEW DISCOVERIES OF MIDDLE PAEOLITHIC HUMAN REMAINS 19
Fig. 5 - Distolinguoradicular view of the
Aubesier 12 right M1 or M2, showing the
carious defect in the roots. 
The Aubesier 12 molar is exceptional for its large root caries. The distolingual
corner of the cervical half of the root has been eroded by a caries, which extends around
the corner of the root, up into the crown, and into the pulp chamber. The internal surfaces
are undulating and eroded, and the preserved margins are rounded. The opening reached
a maximum diameter of 7.2 mm. The carious lesion is accompanied by hypercementosis
around most of roots, indicating associated periodontal involvement in the lesion. This
specimen joins a small but growing sample of Mediterranean Neandertals, including
Banyoles 1, Kebara 27 and Aubesier 5 (Lalueza et al., 1993; Tillier et al., 1995; Trinkaus
et al., 2000b), with dental caries.
SUMMARY
The additional later archaic human remains from the “Bau de l’Aubésier” therefore
add to our samples of late Middle and early Late Pleistocene human fossils from
southeastern France. They are notable for the morphological affinities of the Aubesier 10
and 11 late Middle Pleistocene remains to contemporaneous European human remains,
for the toothpick groove on Aubesier 10, the extensive pathological alterations of the
Aubesier 11 alveolar process, and the large dental caries in Aubesier 12.
Acknowledgments
The excavations at the “Bau de l’Aubésier” have been undertaken with the
permission of the “Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication de France”, the
“Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Service
Régional de l’Archéologie)” and have been supported by the “Conseil de Recherches en
Sciences Humaines du Canada”, the “Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication de
France”, the “Université du Québec à Montréal”, the “Conseil Général du Vaucluse” and
the “Caisse d’Épargne Provence-Alpes-Corse”. The paleontological analysis has been
supported by Washington University. To all of them we are grateful.
20 S. LEBEL, E. TRINKAUS
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NEW DISCOVERIES OF MIDDLE PAEOLITHIC HUMAN REMAINS 21
BIBLIOGRAPHY


New discoveries of Middle Paleolithic human remains from the “Bau de l'Aubésier (Vaucluse, France)”

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