The Bodo Cranium is a nearly complete hominin skull recovered from a site in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia. Bodo is a controversial artifact. Some scientists argue that it is a Homo erectus skull with Homo sapiens-like characteristics. Most recently it has been assigned to Homo heidelbergensis.
Cutmarks on the skull have been interpreted as evidence of cannibalism. The Bodo cranium has been dated to 600,000 years before the present and is one of the most complete skulls found from the period in Africa to date.
Sources and Further Information
This glossary entry is part of the About.com Guide to the Lower Paleolithic and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Kalb, Jon E., et al. 1980 Preliminary geology and palaeontology of the Bodo D'ar hominid Site, Afar, Ethiopia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 30:107-120.
Rightmire, Philip G. 2000 Middle Pleistocene humans from Africa. Human Evolution 15(1-2):63-74.
Rightmire, G. P. The human cranium from Bodo, Ethiopia: evidence for speciation in the Middle Pleistocene? Journal of Human Evolution 31(1):21-39.
Tishkoff, Sarah A., et al. 2009 The Genetic Structure and History of Africans and African Americans. Science 324(5930):1035-1044.
