Skeletons Two representations of skeletons, 1913

Skeletons Two representations of skeletons, 1913. Illustration taken from an article entitled ïFossil Man in ïNature, August 1913. The left Skeleton is that of the man of La Chappelle-aux-Saints (restored), while the one on the right is of an Australian Aborigine. The skeleton discovered at La Chapelle-aux-Saints in France in 1908 was the first virtually complete skeleton of Neanderthal Man to be found. It was analysed by the French paleontologist Marcellin Boule, who incorrectly deduced that Neanderthals were primitive ape-like creatures of limited intellectual capacity. A later study of the skeleton in the 1950s disproved Boules interpretation, revealing that the stooped appearance of the skeleton was due to the individuals sheer old age, severe arthritis in the neck, and several injuries including a damaged patella. ©SSPL/Science Museum