Cro-Magnon man
/krəʊˈmanjɒ̃ man
/ /krəʊˈmaɡnən man /noun [mass noun]
The earliest form of modern human in Europe, associated with the Aurignacian flint industry. The group’s appearance circa 35,000 years ago marked the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic and the apparent decline and disappearance of Neanderthal man; the group persisted at least into the Neolithic period.The best known human fossils are of Cro-Magnon man (whose marvelous paintings are found on the walls of caves in France) and Neandertal man....
- Our earliest human ancestor, Cro-Magnon man, needed to control his environment in specific ways to avoid starving or being eaten by predators.
- Based on examination of fossilized skulls, it appears that Cro-Magnon man possessed the necessary physical equipment for speech.
Origin
Cro-Magnon, the name of a hill in the Dordogne, France, where remains were found in 1868.