Was Altamura Man a MISFIT? He fell through hole, got stuck, disappeared, never came home. |
Who was the Neanderthal Altamura Man, found in cave in Southern Spain? (Discovery Mag) |
.
Altamura Man: How one Neanderthal's misfortune became a blessing for science
In 1993, cave explorers entered a long, narrow tunnel at the Lamalunga Cave near the town of Altamura in Southern Italy.
At the far end, they found an upside-down human skull fused into the rock alongside a large collection of other human bones.
The skull’s jutting brow was covered in a layer of pearl-like coralloid, calcium deposits otherwise known as "cave popcorn."
Much of the remains were covered in some form of the mineral that had leached down from the surrounding limestone.
Today, scientists believe the Neanderthal (the “Altamura Man”) had fallen through a sinkhole in the surrounding limestone karst and never made it back out again.
He starved to death, and the calcium deposits, along with stalactites and stalagmites, had sealed him into a calcified tomb.
Who was the Altamura Man?
In the early going, no one knew if the skeleton had belonged to an early Homo sapiens human or a Neanderthal, and given its remote location, serious scientific study was slow to come.
*Who made this ancient Spanish art?
Horse head painting near extinct auroch |
No comments:
Post a Comment