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Why Don't We Call Them Cro-

Magnon Anymore?

What Are Cro-Magnons?

Cro-Magnon is the informal word once used by
scientists to refer to the people who were living
alongside Neanderthals at the end of the last ice age
(ca. 35,000-10,000 years ago). They were given the
name 'Cro-Magnon' because in 1868, parts of five
skeletons were discovered in the rockshelter of that
name, located in the famous Dordogne Valley of
France.

Scientists compared these skeletons to Neanderthal

skeletons which had earlier been found in similarly
dated sites such as Paviland, Wales; and a little later
at Combe Capelle and Laugerie-Basse in France, and
decided they were different enough from the
Neanderthals, to give them a different name.
Recent research over the past 20 years or so, however,
has led scholars to believe that the physical
dimensions of so-called 'Cro-Magnon' are not
sufficiently different enough from modern humans to
warrant a separate designation. Scientists today use
'Anatomically Modern Human' (AMH) or 'Early
Modern Human' (EMH) to designate the Upper
Paleolithic human beings who looked a lot like us, but
did not have the complete suite of modern human
behaviors.

Physical Characteristics of EMH

The physical characteristics of Early Modern Human
are quite similar to modern humans, although
perhaps a bit more robust, particularly seen in
femora--the leg bones. The differences, which are
slight, have been attributed to the shift away from
long distance hunting strategies to sedentism and
agriculture.

A recent study by Trent Holliday comparing early and

late Upper Paleolithic skeletal materials provided an
average male height of 170 centimeters (early) and
168 centimeters (late), and average female height of
157.6 cm (early) and 158.4 (late). However, Formicola
and Giannecchini's data revealed that "EUP males are
much taller (176.2 cm) and LUP shorter (165.6 cm),
with an average difference of 10.6 cm. Similarly EUP
females (162.9 cm) largely exceed LUP females (153.5
cm)." I think the jury is still out.

Where Did EMH Come From?

In Africa, early modern humans appeared at least as
long ago as 160,000 years BP at sites such as Bouri in
Ethiopia, and perhaps as long ago as 195,000 years
ago, if the dating of Omo Kibish, also in Ethiopia, is
correct. The earliest sites outside of Africa with early
modern humans are at Skhul and Qafzeh caves in
what is now Israel about 100,000 years ago. There's a
large gap in the record for Asia and Europe, between
100,000 and 40,000 years ago, a period in which the
Middle East seems to have been occupied by
Neanderthals; but around 50,000 years ago, the EMH
appear again and flow back into Europe.

This is problematic, because there's very little data for

these periods of time. In addition, the relationship
between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens is hotly
debated in some circles. Behaviorally, in Africa and
the Middle East, the Neanderthals and EMH were
pretty much the same; they were physically quite
different and different scholars debate on our exact
relationship with them.

Before the return of EMH to the Middle East and

Europe, early technological glimmers of modern
behavior are in evidence at several South African sites
of the Still Bay/Howiesons Poort tradition, about
75,000-65,000 years ago. But it wasn't until about
50,000 years ago or so, that a difference in tools, in
burial methods, in the presence of art and music, and
probably some changes in social behaviors as well,
became apparent. At the same time, early modern
humans left Africa.

What were the Tools Like?

Beginning about 50,000 years ago, the tool kit
associated with EMH is the Aurignacian,
characterized by what archaeologists call a 'blade
industry'. In blade technology, the knapper has
sufficient skill to purposefully produce a long thin
sliver of stone that is triangular in cross-section.
Blades were then converted into all kinds of tools, sort
of the Swiss army knife of early modern humans.

Other things associated with early modern humans

include ritual burials, such as that at Abrigo do Lagar
Velho, Portugal, where a child's body was covered
with red ochre before being interred 24,000 years
ago. The invention of the atlatl was at least as long as
17,500 years ago, the earliest having been recovered
from the site of Combe Sauniere. Venus figurines are
attributed to early modern humans of about 30,000
years ago; and of course, let's not forget the amazing
Lascaux Cave.

So Why Don't We Still Call Them Cro-

Magnon?
The more we learn about early modern humans, the
less we feel confident about the early classification
systems we developed more than 130 years ago. The
term Cro-Magnon doesn't refer to a particular
taxonomy or even a particular group located in a
particular place. The word is not precise enough, and
so most paleontologists prefer to use Anatomically
Modern or Early Modern Humans.

Early Modern Human Sites

Sites with EMH human remains include: Predmostí
and Mladec Cave (Czech Republic), Cro-Magnon, Abri
Pataud, Brassempouy (France), Cioclovina
(Romania), Qafzeh Cave, Skuhl Cave, and Amud
(Israel), Vindija Cave (Croatia), kostenki (Russia),
Bouri and Omo Kibish (Ethiopia)
See Page 2 for bibliographic sources for this project.

This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide

to the Middle Paleolithic, and part of the Dictionary of
Archaeology.

This bibliography was built for the About.com

glossary entry for Cro-Magnons, or what scholars now
call Early Modern Humans.

Sources for Early Modern Human

This bibliography is a part of the About.com Guide to
the Middle Paleolithic, and part of the Dictionary of
Archaeology.

Brace, C. L., et al. 2005 The questionable contribution

of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age to European
craniofacial form. PNAS Early Edition November 11,
2005. Free download.
Brantingham, Jeffrey, Steven L. Kuhn, and
Christopher W. Kerry (editors). 2004. The Early
Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe.
University of California Press, Berkeley.

Formicola, Vincenzo 2003 More is not always better:

Trotter and Gleser's equations and stature estimates
of Upper Paleolithic European samples. Journal of
Human Evolution 45(3):239-244.

Goudot, Patrick 2002 The mandibular canal of the

"Old Man" of Cro-Magnon: anatomical-radiological
study. Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery
30:213–218.

Straus, Lawrence G. 1999 Iberia: Bridge or cul-de-sac?

Implications of the Iberian record for the debate on
the middle to upper paleolithic transition. Human
Evolution 14(1-2):139-149.

Holliday, Trenton W. 2002 Body size and postcranial

robusticity of European Upper Paleolithic hominins.
Journal of Human Evolution 43(4):513-528.

Thanks to Dar Habel for an update on Omo Kibish.

Original URL:
http://archaeology.about.com/od/earlymansites/a/cro_