ABSTRACT
The fauna comprises both marine and terrestrial forms in association, a unique occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa. Hominid fossils of the period under review have been recovered from 14 sub-Saharan African sites. Geographically, the 14 sites lie between 5° 24' North and 27° 32' South; all are situated on the Great Central Plateau of Africa, between 25° and 36° East longitude. The chapter indicates the extent of problem-solving materials, the fossils themselves, their wealth and their simultaneous poverty, their potentialities for functional and evolutionary analyses, and their limitations. The wealth and diversity of material are now so great as to demand specialized studies of functional and structural complexes. A detailed study of the form and function of the masticatory apparatus includes a fine analysis of wear patterns, including scratch-marks, on the teeth; inferred vectors of force involved in masticatory thrust, bite pattern, tooth-tooth contact, crushing and grinding; reconstruction of muscle mechanisms operating on the jaws.
