KRAPINA REMAINS

skeletal hominid fossils of at least 13 adults and children, consisting of skulls, teeth, and post-cranial bones found in a rock shelter near the Krapinica River in Yugoslavia between 1899 and 1905. The remains are estimated to derive from the early last glacial period, about 40,000 to 75,000 years ago, and are identified as being transitional from Neanderthal to modern man. Some skulls have strong Neanderthal features such as heavy sloping foreheads, powerful jaws, and a small mastoid process, though others display the high skull vault and frontal regions characteristic of modern man. The limb bones are indistinguishable from those of modern man. The evidence at Krapina suggests that this early species may have practiced cannibalism. The skulls had been smashed, bones had been split, and there was evidence of charring, suggesting that human flesh had been cooked.