A late Middle Pleistocene hominid: Biache-Saint-Vaast 2, North France

Among the Middle Pleistocene human remains discovered in Biache-Saint-Vaast (Pas-de-Calais, France), three cranial fragments were attributed to the same individual: Biache-Saint-Vaast 2 (BSV2). Three-dimensional virtual imaging methods have been used to assemble the various bones and to study the endocranial cavities. The fact that these remains showed most of the classical Neanderthal characteristics as well as several plesiomorphic characteristics suggests the existence of a phyletic relationship with the early European Neanderthals.