Micromammals from the type site of Broken Hill Man (Homo rhodesiensis) near Kabwe, Zambia: a historical note

Abstract

The presence of large numbers of micromammalian remains near the Homo rhodesiensis (now H. heidelbergensis or H. sapiens) type cranium from the Broken Hill Mine near Kabwe was noted when it was discovered. Most of the remains seem to have been lost but a small sample was preserved in the palaeontology collections at the Natural History Museum, London. Over the years, this sample received preliminary inspections that resulted in various published and unpublished reports or identifications, copies of which were kept with the material. The unpublished reports are reproduced to place them on record and to complement the more complete annotated systematic list for the site now given. The present paper collates previous identifications, adds some previously unrecorded taxa and updates the taxonomy to conform to current thinking. The partial nature of the sample prevents a detailed interpretation of environmental conditions at the time of accumulation and there remains no direct dating of the site. However, the micromammals suggest that the environment at the time of deposition was much as it would have been before mining and other human activities altered the vegetation, which may imply interglacial conditions.

Keywords:

• Zambia
• micromammals
• Broken Hill

Acknowledgements

The Natural History Museum, London, is thanked for the loan of the Broken Hill material and associated unpublished documentation.