Engis 2

Engis 2

Exhibit item

Site: 

Awirs Cave, Engis, Belgium

Date of discovery: 

1829

Discovered by: 

Philippe-Charles Schmerling

Age: 

Age uncertain

Species: 

Homo neanderthalensis

First Neanderthal ever found

This child Neanderthal's skull was found in 1829, 30 years before Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species". However, it was not recognized as an early human fossil until decades later.

Image Credit: James Di Loreto, & Donald H. Hurlbert, Smithsonian Institution