Alas, it wasn't Jimmy Hoffa's skull that turned up at Maxilla and Mandible, Ltd., a Manhattan shop specializing in natural history curiosities, but in the end it will probably prove to be more valuable. According to The New York Times, the fossilized skull -- which includes most of the cranium but is missing the upper and lower jaws -- probably belonged to a young man from the Indonesian branch of early Homo erectus. The specimen is roughly half the size of a modern skull and the evidence suggests that this fellow lived at a time when humans were just beginning to develop the capacity to speak. While that may sound like a Teamster boss, the timing isn't right. Scientists believe the skull may be a million years old. Hoffa only disappeared in 1975.
Old Fossil
Alas, it wasn't Jimmy Hoffa's skull that turned up at Maxilla and Mandible, Ltd., a Manhattan shop specializing in natural history curiosities, but in the end it will probably prove to be more valuable. According to The New York Times, the fossilized skull -- which includes most of the cranium but is missing the upper and lower jaws -- probably belonged to a young man from the Indonesian branch of early Homo erectus. The specimen is roughly half the size of a modern skull and the evidence suggests that this fellow lived at a time when humans were just beginning to develop the capacity to speak. While that may sound like a Teamster boss, the timing isn't right. Scientists believe the skull may be a million years old. Hoffa only disappeared in 1975.
