Object Details
- Discovered by
- Andre W. Keyser and R. Smith (reconstructed by R.J. Clarke)
- Is this an original object?
- No
- Age
- Between 2.04 and 1.95 million years ago
- Summary
- This is the most complete "robust" australopithecine skull ever discovered and is considered to be a rare female of this species. DNH 7 was recovered from the DNH 7 or Eurydice Block in the Central Excavation Area of the site, which consists of material that has collapsed due to lime mining. However, excavation of the block has allowed its original position to be reconstructed, occurring below layers dated to 1.95 million years ago. The skull has been slightly distorted and the cranium lacks the left zygomatic arch (cheekbone), the superolateral margins of the left orbit (around the left eye socket), the nasal bones, the body of the sphenoid (an internal skull bone) and the anterior portion of the occipital (a bone at the back of the skull). The mandibular corpus (part of the jawbone) is well preserved.
- Date of discovery
- 1994
- Original Object Identifier
- DNH 7
- Original Object Holding Institution
- University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
- Location of Discovery
- Drimolen Main Quarry, Republic of South Africa
- Site
- Drimolen Main Quarry, Republic of South Africa
- Species
- Paranthropus robustus
- NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
- Record ID
- dpo_3d_200073
