Iho Eleru

Iho Eleru, formerly known as Iwo Eleeru, is an archaeological site and rock shelter that features Later Stone Age artifacts from during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition, which is located in the forest–savanna village of Isarun in Ondo State, Nigeria.

[1] The site was initially discovered by Chief Officer J. Akeredolu, in 1961 during a large-scale survey of hilly landscapes around the town of Akure in Ondo State, Nigeria.

The site was previously known as "Iwo Eleru", first reported by Chief Officer J. Akeredolu with the Department of Antiquities in Benin, Nigeria, and published by T. Shaw and S.G.H.

), rock hyrax (Procavia capensis), West African black turtle (Pelusios niger), and yellow-backed duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor).

[15] Don Brothwell and Thurstan Shaw said in 1971 that the sloping frontal vault was more pronounced in Iho Eleru fossil than in both later Neolithic and recent sub-Saharan skull samples.

However, they also found that the occipital structure, nasal root and the frontal bone of the skull "would qualify for identification as that of a proto-West African negro.

"[16] In 1974 Chris Stringer said that there were surprising similarities between the crania of the much older Solo Man and Omo II with that of Iho Eleru.

[17] The 2011 study found that "Iwo Eleru possesses neurocranial morphology intermediate in shape between archaic hominins (Neanderthals and Homo erectus) and modern humans.

[22] In 2014 Peter J. Waddell of Massey University argued that Iho Eleru man descended from a lineage 200–400 kya and whose extinction may have been caused by humans.