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Salvador Moyà-Solà The Orce skull: anatomy of a mistake

and Meike Köhler
Institut de Paleontologia M.Crusafont,
c/Escola Industrial, 23, 08201
Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain Journal of Human Evolution (1997) 33, 91–97

The search for the oldest Europeans is a passionate project. What was the first species to
colonize Europe, when and where did these human beings settle, are some of the questions
that still remain unresolved. Therefore, it is not surprising that many teams make considerable
efforts to find evidence of the first settlers. Every new finding, even fragmentary specimens, are
enthusiastically welcomed by scientists and by society in general. Nevertheless, this is not
exactly what happened with the fragmentary specimen, popularly known as ‘‘el craneo de
Orce’’ (the Orce skull), which for more than 10 years has been claimed to be a human remain
by Gibert and his collaborators (Gibert et al., 1989a,b,c; Campillo, 1989; Palmqvist et al., 1995)
and Martinez-Navarro (1996). This specimen was found in the locality of Venta Micena, Orce
(Granada, Spain) and consists of a small part of a braincase. Actually, it would be the oldest
human remain in Europe, if its taxonomic status were confirmed. However, its attribution to
Homo has been put into doubt several times (Agusti & Moyà-Solà, 1987; Moyà-Solà & Agusti,
1989), and in spite of its stratigraphic age (Lower Pleistocene) (Agusti et al., 1987; Agusti &
Moyà-Solà, 1991, 1992), it has not made any impact on the palaeoanthropological literature
of the last 10 years. The peculiar characters of this fragment, which do not fit with the human
morphology, attracted widespread criticism and the defenders of its human nature (op. cit.)
applied a lot of imagination to try to demostrate the correctness of their hypothesis. Both the
fractal analysis of the sagittal suture, as well as the application of palaeoimmunological
technologies, doubtlessly resulted from this effort. However, the study of the sagittal suture
(Gibert & Palmquist, 1995) is based on a notably simplified, and thus, erroneous drawing
(Palmqvist, 1997), and the palaeoimmunological results are not conclusive (Palmqvist, 1997).
Nevertheless there still remains the evidence of the anatomy. We will approach the taxonomic
status of the Orce fragment from this angle, concluding that it should not be attributed to
Homo but to Equus.
Most recently, the Orce skull and other fragments of doubtful human nature from the
Orce–Venta Micena sedimentary complex (Gibert et al., 1994), have been defined in a
certainly curious manner as ‘‘potentially hominid remains’’ (Zihlman & Lowenstein, 1996).
What does this mean after 10 years of discussion? What are the requisites of a fossil that is
potentially (‘‘possible but not yet actually’’) hominid to become definitely a hominid?
Normally, hominid fossils clearly show a correspondingly hominid anatomy, and their
attribution does not generate debate (Atapuerca, Carbonell et al., 1995; or Dmanisi, Gabunia
& Vekua, 1995). The application of different technologies, such as fractal dimension of the
sagittal suture and palaeoimmunological analysis by the team of Gibert (Gibert & Palmqvist,
1995; Lowenstein, 1995) seems to suggest that the anatomy of the Orce fragment is not clear
and exclusive, and therefore only these techniques permit a definitive attribution. This is an
attempt to discredit, from the very beginning, each morphological approach: ‘‘The role of the
immunology is critical here, where the morphology is incomplete’’ (Ph. Tobias in Zihlman &
Lowenstein, 1996), ‘‘Given the limitations of conventional anatomy to determine the affinities

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of this fossil, other more precise methodological approaches were used, . . . morphometric
analysis of cranial sutures, and the detection . . . of . . . proteins.’’ (Palmqvist, 1997).
Nevertheless, the Orce fragment is actually sufficiently complete for a conventional
approach by the means of comparative morphology and does permit a classification without
any ambiguity.

The hominid affinities

Following the analysis made by Gibert and collaborators (Gibert et al., 1989a,b,c; Campillo,
1989; Gibert and Palmqvist, 1995; Martinez-Navarro, 1996; textual cites from Campillo,
1989), we agree that (1) ‘‘the exocranial morphology with the lambdoid angle of about 119) . . .
is completely within the human variability’’, (2) the curvature of the parietal bones is wide; and
(3) the morphology of the endocranial surface shows a sagittal grove which continues through
the fragment of the occipital bone.
However, these features are not diagnostic for hominids, as they are common in many other
mammals. The statement that the lambdoid angle is ‘‘completely within the human
variability’’ is not an exclusive human characteristic and with the same arguments one can
affirm that it is ‘‘completely within the horse variability’’ (lambdoid angle in extant Equus
between 66) and 143), Gibert et al., 1989a). The observation of a wide parietal curvature is
only useful for larger parietal surfaces, as the degree of curvature per se is not diagnostic, but
only in the context of parietal size. Curvatures of surfaces of the size of the Orce fragment
(75 mm transversal diameter) can easily be found in other mammals such as young equids,
rhinos etc. Also the mention of an endocranial sagittal grove is superfluous, as this grove can
be found in many other mammals. At the end of his analysis, Campillo (1989) concluded that
‘‘we can affirm that we have found no evident differences between the skull of Orce, and the
morphologies . . . found in present day skulls’’.
But where are the evident features diagnostic (autapomorphic) for humans? A taxonomic
approach based on the lack of differences, but not on exclusive characteristic hominine
features is erroneous and leads to the disappointing statement that the Orce fragment is a
‘‘potentially hominid remain’’ (Zihlman & Lowenstein, 1996) until there are features that
positively prove the pertenancy to the genus Homo. But a ‘‘Homo in spe’’ does not provide any
base for hypotheses about where, when and how the first humans came to Europe or other
important questions and thus, it lacks any scientific value.
On the other hand, there are a series of statements we disagree with:
(1) absence of vestiges of the fronto-parietal suture (Campillo, 1989). This suture is clearly
visible on the exo- and endocranial surface (Figure 1) and even partially on the exocranial
surface (Figure 2).
(2) the digital impressions do not differ from the habitual ones which are found in present day
children (Campillo, 1989). This statement is not correct, as the anatomy of the inner
surface is not usual in hominids but in other mammals such as equids.
(3) ‘‘The sutures are of simple denting, just as it occurs quite often in the fossil men’’
(Campillo, 1989). This observation is wrong as demonstrated in Palmqvist (1997).
(4) ‘‘The presence of a sagittal crest (endocranial) . . . does not weaken the diagnosis . . .’’
(Campillo, 1989), while, in fact, an endocranial sagittal crest comparable with that of the
Orce fragment does not exist in any human skull.

All these features suggest that the Orce skull does not belong to Homo.
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Figure 1. Upper: Endocranial view of the skull fragment (VM-0) from Venta Micena (Orce, Granada, Spain).
The arrows indicate the coronal suture of the right side. Lower: Drawing of the same view. P, parietal; F,
frontal, CS, coronal suture; SS, sagittal suture; O-I Occipital or interparietal; CT,: tentorial crest. Grafic
scale 2 cm.

The equid affinities

The taxonomic attribution of the Orce fragment is, however, not as difficult as suggested by
the team of Gibert, as in fact it yields valuable information:

(1) the only weakly closed suture suggests that the individual was young (infantile or juvenile);
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Figure 2. Exocranial view of the skull fragment from Orce (VM-0). This photograph was taken in 1984,
previous to every kind of manipulation for cleaning or restoring (the internal side). The black arrows indicate
the coronal suture to be clearly visible in the upper part of the specimen. This does not allow the attribution
of this specimen to the genus Homo.

(2) the degree of the parietal curvature (sagittaly and transversally), the general size of the
specimen, and the slenderness of the bone suggest that it belongs to an infantile or juvenile
large mammal;
(3) the suture is much more complex than suggested and figured previously by Gibert &
Palmqvist (1995) and actually resembles those of other mammals such as equids (Palmqvist
1997);
(4) the morphology of the endocranial surface is characterized by small and deep digital
impressions and well-marked transversal sulci. While the morphology of Equus and other
ungulates resembles that of the Orce specimen extraordinarily (see Gibert et al., 1989c,
figure 21), Homo habitually shows even parietals without important digital impressions and
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Figure 3. Detail of the posterior part of the sagittal suture and the parieto-occipital suture of VM-0. The
complexity of these sutures is clearly visible.

only traces of meningeal arteries. Basing our hypothesis on the norm either seen in humans
or in equines, this morphology cannot be attributed to Homo. Yielding to temptation to look
for a case of extreme variability or a pathological case as a reliable pattern for the Orce
fragment is a methodological mistake and only possible when misguided by wishful
thinking.
(5) the posterior part of the Orce fragment preserves a small portion of the occipital or
interparietal, with a sharp crest running towards and ending close to lambda, considered
by Agusti & Moyà-Solà (1987) and Moyà-Solà & Agusti (1989) homologous to that of
equines. This crest shows a height of 6 mm, and taking into account that it was somewhat
damaged during the restoration process, it would probably have been even higher. Gibert
et al. (1989c) thought this crest to be very different from those of equines, essentially for two
reasons: the internal occipital protuberance (tentorial process) is not observable and
the crest runs beyond lambda. The first argument is irrelevant because the lack of the
protuberance is due to the fact that the posterior part of the occipital, where this
protuberance is located, is not preserved. The second argument is an error because the
crest does end in lambda (Figure 1). Thus, there is no difference between the equine
morphology and that of the Orce fragment. Although Campillo & Barcelò (1989) mention
‘‘similar’’ crests in human occipitals, none of them is as sharp and high as that of the Orce
specimen, which, however, strongly resembles those of Equus.
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(6) the Orce fragment has a coronal suture. Although the external surface of the specimen is
strongly damaged by abrasion and the anterior part suffered several fractures, this suture
is clearly observable and even unconsciously figured by the team of Gibert (Gibert et al.
1989, Figure 17; Campillo, 1989, Figure 8). The internal surface is perfectly preserved and
allows observation of the coronal suture over a long distance, particularly on the right
parietal (Figure 1, 2), where it runs only 4 cm from lambda and crosses perpendicularly the
sagittal suture. The presence of the coronal suture is denied by those who defend the
human nature of this fragment (Gibert et al., 1989a,b,c; Campillo, 1989; Gibert and
Palmqvist, 1995; Martinez-Navarro, 1996). This suture is key for the taxonomic assessment
of the Orce fragment, because it gives us the sagittal length of the parietals: 4 cm. This
makes an attribution to Homo impossible. Similar distances are frequent in Equus.
This last argument, together with the general morphology of the Orce fragment, enable us
to conclude that this specimen belongs to the cranium of an immature Equus altidens, very
frequent in the locality of Venta Micena, and that it is unnecessary to look for limits of
variability or pathologies: it is just a common and ordinary horse.

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