The remains of nine Neanderthals were discovered Saturday in the Grotto of Guattari, on the coast between Rome and Naples in Italy.
They are between 50,000 and 100,000 years old.
According to the Ministry of the Cuture, it is one of the most important sites in the world for the history of Neanderthals.
The remains of nine Neanderthals were discovered in the Cave of Guattari, in San Felice Circeo, on the coast between Rome and Naples, the Italian Ministry of Culture announced on Saturday.
"It is an extraordinary discovery which will go around the world", declared the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini.
"If we take into account the other two individuals already discovered on the same site, we have a total of 11 individuals, confirming that this is one of the most important sites in the world for human history Neanderthals, ”the ministry argued.
Eight of them are between 50,000 and 68,000 years old and the oldest probably 90,000 years or even 100,000 years old, according to the ministry statement.
To "better understand the history of the settlement of Italy"
For the head of the excavations, Francesco Di Mario, these individuals are representative of a population of Neanderthals which must have been quite large in this region. "Neanderthals mark a fundamental step in the evolution of humanity, representing the apex of a species and the first human society proper," said the director of the Regional Anthropology Service, Marion Rubini.
This discovery will allow him to "better understand the history of the settlement of Italy". These excavations began in October 2019. During recent excavations, thousands of animal bones, including bones of elephants, rhinos, giant deer, wild horses and bears were also discovered there. The Guattari Cave was discovered by chance in February 1939. The anthropologist Albert Carlo Blanc soon after discovered a perfectly preserved Neanderthal skull.