Fig. 92. Detail showing the interior contents of the Krapina grotto before its excavation in the years 1899 to 1905. After Gorjanovič-Kramberger.
The skull of the Krapina man (Fig. 93) is somewhat broader or more brachycephalic than that of any other members of the Neanderthal race. In general, the race is somewhat dwarfed, of broader head form and with less prominent supraorbital processes. The species is unquestionably Homo neanderthalensis, of which the Krapina men constitute a local race. Schwalbe and Boule observe that the greater breadth of the Krapina skull is partly due to the manner in which the bones have been put together,[(44)] and they do not consider that the Krapina man represents a different subrace (Homo neanderthalensis krapinensis) as held by the discoverer. The cephalic index of one Krapina skull is recorded as 83.7 per cent (?) as compared with 73.9 per cent, the cephalic index of the true H. neanderthalensis, a difference which, as above noted, may be partly due to the restoration. The bones are in such a fragmentary condition that it is impossible to form a proper estimate of the brain capacity in either the males or females of this race; nor is it possible to estimate the stature. The space between the eyes is the same as in the Neanderthal race; the angle of the retreat of the forehead (52°) is nearly the same as in the Gibraltar female Neanderthal skull (50°), this high forehead being due to the lesser development of the supraorbital ridges. That the brain was of a low, flat-headed Neanderthal type is shown by the close similarity of the index of the height of skull (42.2) to that of one of the men of Spy (44.3), as compared with the lowest index among the existing races of men (48.9); yet the Krapina man presents a considerable advance over Pithecanthropus, in which the index of the height of skull is only 34.2.
Fig. 93. Profile view, right side, of one of the skulls from Krapina. This skull is much broader than that of the typical Neanderthaloid. After Gorjanovič-Kramberger. One-quarter life size.
The jaw is more slender than that of the Heidelberg man but is still thick and massive; the chin is receding, a characteristic of all the Neanderthal races.
The broken condition of all the human bones in this cavern, and the abundant indications of fire, have led to the charge that the Neanderthals of Krapina were cannibals, and that these mingled remains are the bones of animals and men collected here during cannibalistic feasts. Against this supposition Breuil observes that none of the human bones are split lengthwise, as is the usual practice when extracting the marrow, but they are broken crosswise. This is the only evidence of such practice that has been found during all Palæolithic times, and we should hesitate to accept it unless corroborated by other localities.
The various layers indicate that the cavern was successively occupied by man; in or near the hearths are found stone implements, broken and incinerated bones, and pieces of charcoal, which may indicate that this grotto was visited only at intervals, perhaps during the colder seasons of the year.
(1) Harlé, 1910.1.