Lower jaw of Australopithecus boisei KNM-ER 729

Lower jaw of Australopithecus boisei KNM-ER 729

This mighty lower jaw was found round 1970 by Richard Lekey in Koobi Fora, Kenia. It has been dated to an age of about 1,7 mio. years. This rarely offered jaw belongs to the kind of the famous "Nutcracker man" that has its nickname because of the giant molars. Those were nearly four times as big as ours and had a flat surface with minor protuberances. The degenerated incisors and canides assume that the foods fragmentation had no bigger meaning to its diet. The massive jaw was layed back below the skulls base so that massive onsets for the grinding muscles appeared. This big jaw is consistent with the heavy chewing powers that were needed to chew minor valuable nutrition.

This cast is handcoloured and made of Epoxi. The colours may be a little differend than shown on the pictures. The handcraft makes every cast unique.