The Altamura Man is a renowned paleoanthropological find that is of great importance in the panorama of research on human evolution. This skeleton, belonging to the species Homo neanderthalensis, was discovered on October 7, 1993 inside the Lamalunga cave, located near Altamura, in Puglia. The dating of this specimen places its existence between 128,000 and 187,000 years ago, making it one of the most significant finds of its kind.
The discovery was made by chance thanks to a group of speleologists from the Italian Alpine Club of Bari, who, invited by the Altamurano Speleological Research Center, were exploring the cave. During an excursion, one of the speleologists, Lorenzo Di Liso, ventured into a particularly difficult tunnel and found a bone deposit that turned out to be a human skull.
Initial morphological analyses of the specimen suggested that it could belong to a form of pre-Neanderthal. However, more recent research has confirmed its classification as Homo neanderthalensis. The extraordinary preservation of the skeleton, trapped in stalactites and stalagmites, has helped to preserve it in an exceptional way, allowing scientists to study it in detail.
The interest aroused by this exceptional discovery is amplified by the completeness of the skeleton and its morphological peculiarities, which offer precious insights into the understanding of the genetic variability of Neanderthal populations. In fact, studies conducted over the years have placed the Altamura Man within a geographical context of significant importance, suggesting that Neanderthal populations could be divided into at least three groups depending on their distribution in Europe and Asia.
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