In view of these doubts and discrepancies, the claim that the Piltdown form belongs to a genus Eoanthropus distinct from that of man is to be viewed with reserve. This interpretation would make the Piltdown type more primitive than the probably antecedent Heidelberg man. Some authorities do regard it as both more primitive and earlier.
14. Neandertal Man
The preceding forms are each known only from partial fragments of the bones of a single individual. The Neandertal race is substantiated by some dozens of different finds, including half a dozen nearly complete skulls, and several skeletons of which the greater portions have been preserved. These fossils come from Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, and what was Austro-Hungary, or, roughly, from the whole western half of Europe. They are all of similar type and from the Mousterian period of the Palæolithic or Old Stone Age (§ [70-72], [Fig. 17]); whereas Pithecanthropus, Heidelberg, and perhaps Piltdown are earlier than the Stone Age. The Mousterian period may be dated as coincident with the peak of the last or Würm glaciation, that is, about 50,000 to 25,000 years ago. Its race—the Neandertal type—was clearly though primitively human; which fact is reflected in the various systematic names that have been given it: Homo Neandertalensis, Homo Mousteriensis, or Homo primigenius.
The Most Important Neandertal Discoveries
| 1856 | Neandertal | Near Düsseldorf, Germany | Skull cap and parts of skeleton |
| 1848 | Gibraltar | Spain | Greater part of skull |
| 1887 | Spy I | Belgium | Skull and parts of skeleton |
| 1887 | Spy II | Belgium | Skull and parts of skeleton |
| 1889-1905 | Krapina | Moravia | Parts of ten or more skulls and skeletons |
| 1908 | La-Chapelle-aux-Saints | Corrèze, France | Skeleton including skull |
| 1908 | Le Moustier | Dordogne, France | Skeleton, including skull, of youth |
| 1909 | La Ferrassie I | Dordogne, France | Partial skeleton |
| 1910 | La Ferrassie II | Dordogne, France | Skeleton |
| 1911 | La Quina | Charente, France | Skull and parts of skeleton |
| 1911 | Jersey | Island in English Channel | Teeth |
Neandertal man was short: around 5 feet 3 inches for men, 4 feet 10 inches for women, or about the same as the modern Japanese. A definite curvature of his thigh bone indicates a knee habitually somewhat bent, and probably a slightly stooping or slouching attitude. All his bones are thickset: his musculature must have been powerful. The chest was large, the neck bull-like, the head hung forward upon it. This head was massive: its capacity averaged around 1,550 c.c., or equal to that of European whites and greater than the mean of all living races of mankind ([Fig. 6]). The head was rather low and the forehead sloped back. The supraorbital ridges were heavy: the eyes peered out from under beetling brows. The jaws were prognathous, though not more than in many Australians and Negroes; the chin receded but existed.
Some Neandertal Measurements
| Fossil | Skull Capacity | Stature |
|---|---|---|
| Neandertal | 1400 c.c. | 5 ft. 4 (or 1) in. |
| Spy I | 1550 c.c. | 5 ft. 4 in. |
| Spy II | 1700 c.c. | |
| La Chapelle-aux-Saints | 1600 c.c. | 5 ft. 3 (or 2) in. |
| La Ferrassie I | 5 ft. 5 in. | |
| Average of male Neandertals | 1550 c.c. | 5 ft. 4 (or 3) in. |
| Average of modern European males | 1550 c.c. | 5 ft. 5 to 8 in. |
| Average—modern mankind | 1450 c.c. | 5 ft. 5 in. |
| Gibraltar | 1300 c.c. | |
| La Quina | 1350 c.c. | |
| La Ferrassie II | 4 ft. 10 in. | |
| Average of modern European females | 1400 c.c. | 5 ft. 1 to 3 in. |
The artifacts found in Mousterian deposits show that Neandertal man chipped flint tools in several ways, knew fire, and buried his dead. It may be assumed as almost certain that he spoke some sort of language.