Definition: Cro-Magnon is a now-outmoded word meaning early Homo sapiens sapiens, circa 35,000 to 10,000 years before the present. The type site for Cro-Magnon was at the Cro-Magnon rockshelter in the Dordogne Valley, France, excavated by Louis Lartet. Today, Cro-Magnons are recognized as indistinguishable from modern humans.
The Cro-Magnon rockshelter was discovered in the 1860s, in a rockshelter in a cliff overlooking the Vezere River in Les Eyzies. Five individuals were found buried in the cave, three men, one adult and a child; they have since been radiocarbon dated to 22,000 years ago.
The Cro-Magnon rockshelter was discovered in the 1860s, in a rockshelter in a cliff overlooking the Vezere River in Les Eyzies. Five individuals were found buried in the cave, three men, one adult and a child; they have since been radiocarbon dated to 22,000 years ago.
Source
Find out Why We Don't Call Them Cro-Magnons Any More.
Goudot, Patrick. 2002. The mandibular canal of the "Old Man" of Cro-Magnon: anatomical-radiological study. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery 30:213–218
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
