Specimen List

Homo neanderthalensis

Tabun II

  • Geologic Age:

    122 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    1929-1934

  • Discovered By:

    D. Garrod

  • Discovery Location:

    Mugharet et-Tabun cave in Wadi el-Maghara, near Mount Carmel

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Male

Coming soon.


Tabun I

  • Geologic Age:

    122 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    1929-1934

  • Discovered By:

    D. Garrod

  • Discovery Location:

    Mugharet et-Tabun cave in Wadi el-Maghara, near Mount Carmel

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Female

  • Original Publication:

    McCown and Keith 1939

Coming Soon.


Guattari 1

  • Geologic Age:

    60 Ka - 50 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    Feb 1939

  • Discovered By:

    A. Guattari and M. Palombi

  • Discovery Location:

    Grotta Guattari (Monte Circeo)

  • Cranial Capacity:

    1500 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

Coming Soon.


Neanderthal 1

  • Geologic Age:

    50 Ka - 40 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    Aug 1856

  • Discovered By:

    Miners in a limestone cave

  • Discovery Location:

    Felderhofer Grotto, Düsseldorf, Neander Valley, Germany

  • Cranial Capacity:

    1525 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Undetermined

Neanderthal 1 is a skullcap that represents one of the first Homo neanderthalensis specimen ever discovered. The specimen was found in association with several post cranial fossils in Feldhofer Cave, Germany. Quarry workers who first discovered the fossils turned them over to Johann Karl Fuhlott, a local school teacher. Fuhlott suspected the fossil represented a human and sent it to anatomist Hermann Schaffhausen, who published a description of Neanderthal 1 in 18572. Assigning a date to the fossil remains contentious since the original context of the specimen was not documented3. Carbon-14 analysis on another Neanderthal specimen recovered from the mine's dumping site resulted in an estimated age of 40 Ka6. By association, Neanderthal 1's age is estimated between 40-50 Ka1.


Spy 1

  • Geologic Age:

    60,000 years

  • Discovery Date:

    1886

  • Discovery Location:

    Grotto of Spy d'Orneau, Belgium

  • Sex:

    Male

Coming Soon.


La Chapelle-aux-Saints

  • Geologic Age:

    50 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    3 Aug 1908

  • Discovered By:

    Amadee and Jean Bouyssonie and Josef Bonneval

  • Discovery Location:

    Bouffia Bonneval, La Chapella-aux-Saints, France

  • Cranial Capacity:

    1625 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult

  • Sex:

    Male

La Chappelle-aux-Saints is an adult male specimen, including a nearly complete cranium and mandible along with a fairly complete skeleton that preserves more of the upper body elements than the lower body. The fossil is attributed to the species Homo neanderthalensis. La Chappelle-aux-Saints's skeleton exhibits morphologies indicative of certain ailments which were initially described as the primitive human condition 1,2. Later discoveried helped to prove these findings untrue. Mousterian lithics and faunal remains found above the skeleton, as well as ERS dating were used to date La Chappelle-aux-Saints at approximately 50 Ka2,4. The skeleton may have been part of a simple burial4.


La Ferrassie 1

  • Geologic Age:

    50 Ka

  • Discovery Date:

    17 Sep 1909

  • Discovered By:

    Denis Peyrony & Louis Capitan

  • Discovery Location:

    La Ferrassie, France

  • Cranial Capacity:

    <1,600 cc

  • Specimen Age:

    Adult, 40 - 55 yrs

  • Sex:

    Male

  • Estimated Weight:

    85

La Ferrassie 1 is an adult male cranium of the species Homo neanderthalensis that was found during excavations in a rock shelter near La Ferrassie, France in 1909 by Denis Peyrony and Louis Capitan. The individual, La Ferrassie 1, most likely occupied Europe about 50 Ka when the western portion of the continent was covered in glaciers. The rock shelter at La Ferrassie where the cranium was discovered also yielded many other individuals, including a nearly complete adult male skeleton, a female skeleton, and five juveniles that ranged in age from prenatal to 10 years. All are believed to have occupied 6 different graves, implying that Neanderthals engaged in ritualistic funerary practices.