Who Was a Cro-Magnon Man?

Take our mini-quiz and find out

Who was Cro-Magnon Man? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Do you think the Cro-Magnon man was...

A. The oldest modern human dating back 315,000 years                                                             B. A term for prehistoric humans used in the 19th century

The correct answer is...

B. A term for prehistoric humans used in the 19th century

Abbé Breuil in front of the porch of Lascaux (1940/1940)Grotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

"Cro-Magnon" is the name of a location in Dordogne, France, in the district of Eyzies-de-Tayac, where prehistoric human bones have been found.

Who was Cro-Magnon Man? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

 In the local language of Périgord Occitan, "cro" means a hollow, while "Magnon" was the name of the family that owned the land there. 

In the scientific community, the expression "Cro-Magnon man," which was used from 1874 onward, is now used increasingly less often, being abandoned in favor of "modern man." 

Cro-Magnon Skull 1 (1868) (2015-04-25/2015-04-25) by Musée de Tautavel/smergcGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

The oldest modern human has been dated to 315,000 years ago (give or take 34,000 years). Those remains were found in Morocco (in 2017) at the prehistoric site Jebel Irhoud.

Our ancestors left Africa at least 120,000 years ago. Some of them migrated toward Europe, where they arrived about 45,000 years ago. 

Why do we describe our ancestors as "hunter-gatherers"? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Let's see if you can answer another prehistory question!

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