The Cro-Magnon: The History and Legacy of Europe's Early Modern Humans
ISBN: 9781727067071
*Includes pictures
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
In March 1868 in a rock shelter in southwestern France, railroad workers came across relatively modern looking human skulls, flint tools and animal bones. To investigate the limestone cliff shelter, the French geologist Louis Lartet was brought in to perform excavations, during which he uncovered four partial skeletons and ornaments of shell, ivory and reindeer antler. Given the ancient nature of the remains, the specimen types were named after the Abri de Crô-Magnon (abri = rock shelter, an dcrô= hole) they were discovered in.
Notable finds from the rock shelter were the Cro-Magnon 1, a nearly complete male skull (missing only his teeth) with remains of his skeleton, Cro-Magnon 2, partial remains of a female cranium, and Cro-Magnon 3, the partial remains of a male cranium. Based on the remains, the site likely dates to the Upper Pleistocene Era between 32,000 and 30,000 years ago. Of the three skulls that were uncovered, Cro-Magnon 1 was considered the type specimen for the Western European “race” (an artificial construct of the time it was discovered), even though the skull featured more gracile features than the other two skulls and was not that similar to them either.
The Cro-Magnon were Homo sapiens, and the most defining characteristics of the species are the cultural traits that begin to show in the archaeological record. Tools were beginning to be made from multiple materials, and these people would often travel long distances or trade to acquire specific materials for tools. Symbolic material became increasingly common among them, as cave paintings, figurines, shell beads, pendants, and even early burials were more common with modern humans than Neanderthals, and this abstract way of thinking may have helped the species be more successful in adapting than the other contemporary humans.
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
*Includes a table of contents
In March 1868 in a rock shelter in southwestern France, railroad workers came across relatively modern looking human skulls, flint tools and animal bones. To investigate the limestone cliff shelter, the French geologist Louis Lartet was brought in to perform excavations, during which he uncovered four partial skeletons and ornaments of shell, ivory and reindeer antler. Given the ancient nature of the remains, the specimen types were named after the Abri de Crô-Magnon (abri = rock shelter, an dcrô= hole) they were discovered in.
Notable finds from the rock shelter were the Cro-Magnon 1, a nearly complete male skull (missing only his teeth) with remains of his skeleton, Cro-Magnon 2, partial remains of a female cranium, and Cro-Magnon 3, the partial remains of a male cranium. Based on the remains, the site likely dates to the Upper Pleistocene Era between 32,000 and 30,000 years ago. Of the three skulls that were uncovered, Cro-Magnon 1 was considered the type specimen for the Western European “race” (an artificial construct of the time it was discovered), even though the skull featured more gracile features than the other two skulls and was not that similar to them either.
The Cro-Magnon were Homo sapiens, and the most defining characteristics of the species are the cultural traits that begin to show in the archaeological record. Tools were beginning to be made from multiple materials, and these people would often travel long distances or trade to acquire specific materials for tools. Symbolic material became increasingly common among them, as cave paintings, figurines, shell beads, pendants, and even early burials were more common with modern humans than Neanderthals, and this abstract way of thinking may have helped the species be more successful in adapting than the other contemporary humans.