The New International Encyclopædia/Neanderthal Man

NEANDERTHAL (nā̇-än′der-täl) MAN. The name applied to a dolichocephalic early Quaternary type in Western Europe, based on the upper portion of a human skull found 60 feet beneath the surface by quarrymen in a ravine called Neanderthal, near the village of Hochdal, between Düsseldorf and Elberfeld, in Rhenish Prussia. Anthropologists have varied greatly in their judgment of this relic. The preponderance of opinion is toward the view that the Neanderthal skull represents the oldest known dolichocephalic folk of Europe. Crania of the Neanderthal type were subsequently found at Brux (Bohemia), Podbaba (near Prague, Bohemia), Eguisheim (near Kolmar, Alsace), Denise (near Le Puy, Haute-Loire), Marcilly (Eure, France), Bréchamps (Eure-et-Loir), Tilbury (England, near London), Bury-Saint-Edmunds (Suffolk, England), and Victoria Cave Galley Hill, Hamilton (England). This type, in addition to its low cranial index (70-75.3), was characterized by a low forehead, prominent brow ridges, and low stature (about 1.59 meters, or 62.5 inches).