Strong, um, five feet tall

She must not have lacked strength and strong temperament, also because the wild life under the threat of ferocious animals marked all her time. But she had a strong sense of community and family, driven by her care for the children who grew up alongside her. Strong and illiterate, a hunter and a worker of the land. We must imagine that she is at least one and a half meters tall, and her body weight is about fifty kilograms. The slightly prominent eye arches and thickness of the head bones are consistent, but also with a more modern appearance to the face and body. This is how the woman of the gods appears Neanderthal, older relatives of Homo sapiens who lived 60,000 years ago. The last surprise provided by the famous fossil deposits Guattari Cavea Paleolithic treasure located on a promontory CirceoWhat has been making headlines since it was first discovered in 1939 is the skull of an adult woman. The latest data from the study in the anthropological laboratories of the Supervisory Authority for Antiquities, Fine Arts and Landscapes of the provinces of Frosinone and Latina, led by archaeologist Francesco Di Mario, confirmed the identity.

Excavations
“The skull in question is part of a group of fossil remains attributed to at least nine hominids that were discovered in 2021, along with other fossils linked to animals that lived in this environment,” says Francesco Di Mario. He doubted that the discovery was more exciting. She is an adult woman and her history is now limited to 60,000 years ago. We have to imagine that it is about a meter and a half long, and therefore smaller than us.” The studies have never stopped here, and have been enriched by the results of the recent excavation campaign last summer, which included previously unexplored parts of this underground cave that houses the wonders of the Stone Age. Ancient, which is considered the “home” of Neanderthals.
“We can now also identify fossil remains related to a child and a teenager,” adds Di Mario, who has been involved in research at this exceptional site for years, which also represents a technological turning point in terms of museum valorization. In fact, the new visiting route for the Guattari Cave in Circeo was opened today, in collaboration with the FAI, the Italian Environmental Fund, the CNR, Tor Vergata University and the Municipality of San Felice Circeo.

time travel

“The experience is accompanied by advanced multimedia support – declares Francesco Di Mario – through special immersive virtual reality scenes created by a team of computer scientists, Gianluca and Beifrancesco Rotondi, allowing the audience to take a journey through time, finding themselves in the cave as it was seen by man in prehistoric times. “History. It’s also fun, because the fossil bones found in ancient soil turn into 3D images, revealing their original identity. From human to deer, from bull to hyena.” Exploration will also take into account the latest data obtained from expanding exploration. Most of the unpublished data is reserved for the Anthropology Laboratory of the supervisory body directed by Mauro Rubini: “Here in Circeo – he explains – a type of Neanderthal society has been created with its own physical characteristics, which seem to distinguish it from other existing societies. With a certain shape of the face, and more developed aspects, oriented towards Homo sapiens.” And if you try to ask the name of “the lady” from Circeo, a kind smile appears. Pina. The choice is dictated by the emotion of the moment and personal emotions. After all, even anthropologists are romantics.
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