The morphological affinities of the fossil cranium from Kabua, Kenya

Authors

• Abel Marinus Bosman, University of Tübingen
• Laura Tabitha Buck, University of Tübingen
• Hugo Reyes-Centeno, University of KentuckyFollow
• Marta Mirazón Lahr, University of Cambridge
• Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum
• Rainer Grün, Australian National University
• Qingfeng Shao, Nanjing Normal University
• Katerina Harvati, University of Tübingen

Abstract

Our current understanding of the origins of Homo sapiens is limited, in part, by the fragmented fossil record from Late Pleistocene and early Holocene Africa. Here, we re-examine the Kabua 1 cranium, an enigmatic and little-studied Kenyan fossil discovered in the 1950s. We compare virtual reconstructions created previously by our team with a wide range of Middle Pleistocene to Early Holocene fossils and recent African H. sapiens crania to assess Kabua 1's morphological affinities. We also provide a conservative new Uranium-series minimum date of 64.4 ± 5.4 ka. Our results highlight Kabua 1's broad similarity to derived H. sapiens, both recent and fossil. Its morphology nevertheless demonstrates some more basal affinities and thus contributes to our understanding of the depth of phenotypic diversity in Late Pleistocene African H. sapiens.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2026

Notes/Citation Information

Publisher Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Anthropological Institute.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1111/1467-9655.70137

Archival?

Archival

Repository Citation

Bosman, Abel Marinus; Buck, Laura Tabitha; Reyes-Centeno, Hugo; Lahr, Marta Mirazón; Stringer, Chris; Grün, Rainer; Shao, Qingfeng; and Harvati, Katerina, "The morphological affinities of the fossil cranium from Kabua, Kenya" (2026). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 36.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_facpub/36