Neanderthal cranial remains from Baume Moula‐Guercy (Soyons, Ardèche, France)

Objectives We provide the first comparative description of the Guercy 1 cranium and isolated cranial fragments from Baume Moula‐Guercy and examine their affinities to European Preneanderthals, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens. Materials and Methods The Moula‐Guercy hominins derive from deposits chronostratigraphically and biostratigraphically dated to the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e). For comparisons we compiled a sample of European and Southwest Asian subadult‐adult Middle‐to‐Late Pleistocene hominins (≈MIS 14–MIS 2; N = 184). This sample represents a Preneanderthal–Neanderthal group and a H. sapiens group, both of which were further divided into three time‐successive subgroups defined by associated marine isotope stages (MIS). Metric and morphological observations were made on the original fossils and a virtual reconstruction of Guercy 1. Developmental age and sex and the minimum–maximum number of individuals were assessed. Results Guercy 1 represents the remains of a late stage adolescent (≈15–16.0 years) female. Morphological and metric data combine to associate the total morphological pattern expressed in Guercy 1 with our MIS 7–MIS 5e (“Early Neanderthal”) subgroup. Some features, especially those related to the frontal, suggest linkage to a paleodeme comprising the Moula‐Guercy, Artenac, La Chaise Abri Suard and, possibly, the Biache‐Saint‐Vaast samples. Discussion Remains of MIS 7–MIS 5e Neanderthals are rare and fragmentary, especially those dated to the Last Interglacial. The Baume Moula‐Guercy sample provides new insights into the total morphological pattern expressed in MIS 5e Neanderthals. Further, our results support earlier suggestions that MIS 7–MIS 5e European hominins represent a morphotype that is distinct from both earlier and later members of the Preneanderthal–Neanderthal group. Reconstruction of Early Neanderthal adolescent female from Moula‐Guercy Cave, France.