МАЭ № 6080-10

Upper Paleolithic (Cro-Magnon) man from Oberkassel

circa 1948

plaster

In 1914, an Upper Paleolithic (Magdalenian) double burial, that of a man and woman, dating to 13-14 thousand years before present, was discovered near Oberkassel, Germany. Mikhail Gerasimov used the casts of both crania for graphic reconstruction. Also, he undertook a sculptural reconstruction of the male’s face. The individual died at the age of 45-50. There are no archaic features in his skull. According to Gerasimov, it is “very large, robust, and dolichocranic. The vault is high. The forehead is medium high and sloping… The supraorbital region is strong. The face is high and very wide, rather flattened, with extremely broad and robust cheekbones, narrowed forehead, and everted mandibular angles. The nose is high, narrow, and very protruding. The lower jaw is robust. The individual must have been very strong; no doubt he was handsome in a primitive way. This a typical Cromagnon”. To better render the man’s individual features, Gerasimov sculptured him without beard or moustache. As a result, he looks younger than his age suggests.

Anthropological plastic reconstructions, lifetime masks. 19th - 20th centuries