(used before a noun) denoting a tall erect race of human beings who appeared about 35,000 years ago, and flourished from the Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic period, known from skeletal remains found chiefly in S France and classified as the same species as recent human beings
Cro-Magnon is a rock shelter in the Dordogne, southwest France, which gave its name to the modern form of human (Homo sapiens) after several late Palaeolithic burials were discovered there in 1868. The skeletons indicated tall, muscular people with a long skull, high forehead, and broad face, with prominent chin — Dr Paul Bahn
[named after Cro-Magnon, a cave near Les Eyzies, France, where remains were found]