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Science 2 November 1979:
Vol. 206. no. 4418, pp. 592 - 595
DOI: 10.1126/science.206.4418.592
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Articles

Early Hominid Population Densities: New Estimates

NOEL T. BOAZ 1

1 Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York 10003

Proportional faunal representations in excavated fossil occurrences (Shungura Formation, Omo, Ethiopia) are very similar to modern sub-Saharan mammalian faunal proportions in a variety of environments. Early hominids comprise between 0.6 and 1.6 percent of the excavated assemblage, corrected to reflect numbers of individuals. With allochthonous faunal localities for comparison, direct analogies to modern fauna suggest early hominid population densities of between 0.006 to 1.7 individuals per square kilometer. Calculations based on population densities of modern large mammals indicate that population densities of early hominids were between 0.001 and 2.48 individuals per square kilometer.

Submitted on January 8, 1979
Revised on April 30, 1979

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)