Abri de Cro-Magnon | |
 Cro-Magnon rock shelter; a commemorative marble plaque to the right of the image's center-top reads, "Abri de Cro-Magnon: ici furent découverts en 1868 les hommes de Cro-Magnon par François Berthoumeyrou" ("Shelter of Cro-Magnon: Here in 1868 Cro-Magnon men were discovered by François Berthoumeyrou") | |
  Location within France | |
| Location | Les Eyzies,Dordogne |
|---|---|
| Region | Nouvelle-Aquitaine France |
| Coordinates | 44°56′25″N01°00′35″E / 44.94028°N 1.00972°E /44.94028; 1.00972 |
| Altitude | 73.0 m (240 ft)[1] |
| Type | Rock shelter |
| Part of | European early modern human sites |
| History | |
| Material | Human remains, animal bones, flint tools |
| Founded | ~27,680 ± 270BP |
| Periods | Aurignacian |
| Associated with | Cro-Magnons |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1868+ |
| Archaeologists | Louis Lartet |
| Public access | Yes |
| Website | Official website |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, iii |
| Designated | 1979(3rdsession) |
| Part of | Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley |
| Reference no. | 85 |
Cro-Magnon (/kroʊˈmænjən/ ⓘ,US:/-ˈmæɡnən/;French:Abri de Cro-MagnonFrench pronunciation:[kʁomaɲɔ̃])[note 1][2][3] is anAurignacian (Upper Paleolithic) site, located in arock shelter atLes Eyzies, a hamlet in the commune ofLes Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil,Dordogne, southwesternFrance.[4]
Most notably, it is the site of the discovery ofanatomically modern human remains, apparentlyburied at the site, dated to about 28,000 years ago.[5] The find is also calledCro-Magnon after the name of the rock shelter. Because of its archeological importance,Abri de Cro-Magnon was inscribed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage List as part of thePrehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley site.[6]
In 1868, workmen found animal bones, flint tools, and human skulls in the rock shelter. French geologistLouis Lartet was called for excavations, and found the partial skeletons of four prehistoric adults and one infant, along with perforated shells used as ornaments, an object made from ivory, and worked reindeer antler.
These "Cro-Magnon men" were identified as the prehistoric human species of Europe, as distinct fromNeanderthal Man, described a few years earlier byWilliam King based on theNeanderthal 1 fossil discovered in Germany in 1856. Lartet proposed thesubspecies nameHomo sapiens fossilis in 1869. The term "Cro-Magnon Man" soon came to be used in a general sense to describe the oldest modern people in Europe. By the 1970s, the term was used for any early modern human wherever found, as was the case with the far-flungJebel Qafzeh remains inIsrael and variousPaleo-Indians inthe Americas.[8]
Cro-Magnon 1 consists of a skull and partial skeletal remains belonging to a male individual, approximately 40 years old.[9] It is dated to 27,680 ± 270Before Present (BP). Thecranial cavity measures 1,600 cubic centimetres (98 cu in).[10] The capacity of a modern adultanatomically modern human's cranial cavity is 1,200 to 1,700 cubic centimetres (73 to 104 cu in).[11]
Cro-Magnon 2 is a partially preserved female skull with marked facial similarities toMladeč 2.[12]
Cro-Magnon 3 is a partial skull of a male adult.
The remains are thought to represent adults who died at an advanced age, who were placed at the site, along with pieces of shell and animal teeth in what appear to have beenpendants or necklaces, in an apparent intentionalburial. The presence of necklaces and tools suggests the concept ofgrave goods.[13]
Analysis of thepathology of theskeletons shows that the humans of this period led a physically difficult life. In addition to infection, several of the individuals found at the shelter had fusedvertebrae in their necks, indicating traumatic injury; the adult female found at the shelter had survived for some time with a skull fracture. As these injuries would be life-threatening even today, this suggests that Cro-Magnons relied on community support and took care of each other's injuries.[13] In addition, Cro-Magnon 1 suffered from a genetic condition calledNeurofibromatosis type I, which would have led him to have large cysts or tumours on his face, evident in the depression in thefrontal bone and pits of the eyebrows andcheek bones.[14]
Compared to Neanderthals, the skeletons showed the same high forehead, upright posture and slender (gracile) skeleton as modern humans. The other specimens from the site are a female, Cro-Magnon 2, and male remains, Cro-Magnon 3.
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