Neanderthal cranio-cervical features: morphological integration and functional evaluation of their early appearance

Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and their direct ancestors are characterized by a number of derived cranial and postcranial morphological features. Many of these traits first appear in European Middle Pleistocene populations, likely as a result of adaptation and/or genetic drift. According to the “accretion model,” this accumulation of traits was shaped by repeated extreme glacial conditions and associated demographic bottlenecks. However, the functional significance of many of these features—particularly those related to the cervical spine, basal cranium, mandible, and face—remains controversial, in part because they have often been studied in isolation. This paper reviews a set of traits that emerged early in the Neanderthal lineage and attempts to interpret them as part of an integrated morpho-functional system. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine multiple cranio-cervical traits of Homo neanderthalensis within a coherent, functionally integrated analytical framework.