noun
also neandertal man
Usage: usually capitalized N
Etymology: from Neanderthal ( Neandertal ), valley in western Germany where the remains were first discovered
: a type or race or species of Middle Paleolithic man ( Homo neanderthalensis or Palaeoanthropus neanderthalensis ) known from skeletal remains found at many sites in Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia usually in association with Mousterian artifacts and distinguished by a stocky, heavily muscled build, proportionally short forearm and lower leg, and an extremely dolichocephalic skull with projecting occiput, heavy supraorbital torus, receding forehead, and undeveloped chin