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A number of different approaches are currently available to digitally restore the symmetry of a specimen deformed by taphonomic processes. These tools include mirroring and retrodeformation to approximate the original shape of an object by symmetrisation. Retrodeformation has the potential to return a rather faithful representation of the original shape, but its power is limited by the availability of bilateral landmarks. A recent protocol proposed by Schlager and colleagues (2018) overcomes this issue by using bilateral landmarks and curves as well as semilandmarks. Here we applied this protocol to the Middle Pleistocene human cranium from Steinheim (Germany), the holotype of an abandoned species named Homo steinheimensis. The peculiar morphology of this fossil, associated with the taphonomic deformation of the entire cranium and the lack of a large portion of the right side of the face, has given rise to different hypotheses over its phylogenetic position. The reconstruction presented here sheds new light on the taphonomic origin of some features observed on this crucial specimen and results in a morphology consistent with its attribution to the Neanderthal lineage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exceptionally well-preserved Neanderthal skeleton discovered in October 1993 within the Lamalunga cave near Altamura (Puglia, Italy) has been recently dated to a late Middle Pleistocene chronology, bracketed between 128.2 and 187.0 ka. Although the skeleton is still sealed in situ , in 2009 and 2015 a large part of its fragmentary right scapula was removed from the cave in three pieces, following a protocol aimed at preventing any biological contamination prior to aDNA extraction and analysis. The three fragments taken together preserve the glenoid fossa, the roots of both the coracoid and acromial processes, the superior two-thirds of the axillary border, portions of the spine, and part of the supraspinous fossa. This scapula is described here in detail for the first time. Morphological analyses show that it falls within the range of Neanderthal variability and also approaches the Mid-Pleistocene sample from Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos. However, the scapula from Altamura exhibits a bisulcate/ventral pattern of the axillary border: a feature that is uncommon for a Neanderthal and, more in general, among the European archaic humans of the Middle and Late Pleistocene. The scapula from Altamura expands our knowledge of the postcranial variability along the Neanderthal lineage. • The Altamura skeleton is the most complete Neanderthal ever found. • Discovered in 1993 and dated to more than 130 ka, it is still preserved in situ. • Fragments of the right scapula have been extracted from the cave and described here. • Metrically the restored scapula falls within the Neanderthal variability. • Morphologically, it exhibits a bisulcate/ventral pattern of the axillary sulcus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]