Chancelade skeleton, fossil remains of a human (genus Homo) discovered in 1888 in a rock shelter at Chancelade, southwestern France. The 17,000-year-old skeleton was found in a curled posture—an indication of a deliberate burial—below the floor of the shelter. The Chancelade skull was studied by the French anatomist Jean-Léo Testut, who declared it to be of Eskimo type and established it as the type specimen of a supposed “Chancelade race.” Although its Eskimo affinities were long accepted by many paleoanthropologists, later experts have generally agreed that the Chancelade skull is Cro-Magnon. The Cro-Magnons were early modern humans (Homo sapiens) who occupied Europe after the Neanderthals from about 40,000 years ago to 10,000 years ago. Although broadly similar to modern humans, Cro-Magnons differed from contemporary populations in having larger browridges, wider faces, and larger skulls. Most researchers agree that the physical characteristics shown by modern humans are of more recent origin and certainly postdate the Chancelade specimen.
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Homo, genus of the family Hominidae (order Primates) characterized by a relatively large cranial capacity, limb structure adapted to a habitual erect posture and a bipedal gait, well-developed and fully opposable thumbs, hands capable of power and precision grips, and the ability to make standardized precision tools, using one tool…
Cro-Magnon, population of early Homo sapiensdating from the Upper Paleolithic Period ( c.40,000 to c.10,000 years ago) in Europe. In 1868, in a shallow cave at Cro-Magnon near…
Homo sapiens, (Latin: “wise man”) the species to which all modern human beings belong. Homo sapiensis one of several species grouped into the genus Homo, but it is the only one that is not extinct. See alsohuman evolution. The name Homo sapienswas…
Neanderthal, ( Homo neanderthalensis, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), member of a group of archaic humans who emerged at least 200,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) and were replaced or assimilated by early modern human populations ( Homo sapiens) between 35,000 and perhaps…
Pleistocene EpochPleistocene Epoch, earlier and major of the two epochs that constitute the Quaternary Period of the Earth’s history, and the time period during which a succession of glacial and interglacial climatic cycles occurred. The base of the Gelasian Stage (2,588,000 to 1,800,000 years ago) marks the…