Neanderthal 1

Neanderthal 1 is the common name for the initial Neanderthal specimen found during an archaeology dig in August 1856. It represents the beginning of paleoanthropology as a scientific discipline.

The discovery was made in a limestone quarry located at the Feldhofer grotto in Neanderthal, Germany. Neanderthal 1 consisted of a skull cap, two femora, the three right arm bones, two of the left arm bones, ilium, and fragments of a scapula and ribs. The fossils were given by quarry workers to a local teacher and amateur naturalist, Johann Karl Fuhlrott. The description of the remains was determined by anatomist Hermann Schaffhausen. The find was announced jointly in 1857.