Location: Belgium Wallonia Dinant
Cave on the left bank of the Lesse near Dinant – in 1866 a Neanderthal jaw was found here, early evidence for Darwin's theory.
Interesting facts
- The mandible was found by Édouard Dupont in 1866.
- Paul Broca called it the first anatomical evidence for the followers of Darwin.
- The finds are now in the natural sciences museum in Brussels.
Why visit
- Site of a key find in palaeoanthropology
- Setting in the Lesse valley
La Naulette cave lies in Wallonia on the left bank of the Lesse, a tributary of the Meuse, in the hills above Dinant.
In 1866 the Belgian palaeontologist Édouard Dupont discovered a fragmented, toothless human mandible and an incomplete ulna here. Remains of mammoth, rhinoceros and reindeer lay in the same layer. The jaw is now regarded as Neanderthal and assigned to the Mousterian.
The find became important because, unlike the Neanderthal from the Neander Valley, it lay in a precisely recorded stratigraphic sequence, so its great age was quickly accepted. The anthropologist Paul Broca called it the first anatomical evidence for the followers of Darwin. The finds are kept at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
History
Excavated by Édouard Dupont in 1866; discovery of a Neanderthal mandible and an ulna together with remains of mammoth, rhinoceros and reindeer.
Special features
Cave on the left bank of the Lesse; site of the Mousterian La Naulette mandible.
Map
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