Database Content

Currently the Human Origins Database contains the measurements and skeletal element information present in the Koobi Fora Research Project. Volume 4: Hominid Cranial Remains by Bernard Wood (1991). In addition, a complete inventory of skeletal elements present for the chimpanzee and gorilla collections at the Powell-Cotton Museum is included, along with annotated data sheets providing information on epiphyseal fusion, element condition, etc. We will be adding more information as it is made available to us and as time and funding permit.

Applications

The various applications available on this site can be called up using the menu bar at the top of this page. There are multiple ways in which the information in the Human Origins Database can be accessed:

Queries

Query the database by specimen, element, or measurement. You may restrict your queries to fossil or extant material, or search the entire database. References are provided for each measurement value. In addition, elements, measurement types, and measurement values themselves may be linked to images or further information.

Extant Data Sheets

Annotated skeletal inventories for individual extant specimens are available online. Information includes the presence/absence of each skeletal element, the degree of epiphyseal fusion present for long bones, dental eruption data, the presence of in vivo damage or pathology, and the presence of post mortem damage.

Acknowledgements

This project was made possible by generous funding from the G. Harold & Leila Y. Mathers Foundation and The George Washington University's Selective Excellence Program to Bernard Wood and Adam D. Gordon. For more information, please see the credits.