Cro-Magnon man is a population of prehistoric humans whose skeletal remains were first discovered in 1868 when road workers in France accidentally opened a prehistoric rock shelter containing human bones, stone tools and ancient hearths. These remains do not differ much from modern humans, due to their posession of such features as higher, more vertical foreheads, indicating modern configuration of the frontal lobes of the brain. They also posessed the reduced brow ridges, smaller face sand teeth characteristic of anatomically modern humans, as well as the existance of a chin.

The anatomy of these modern humans is not identical, however, to the present day Europeans in all respects. The skeletal remains show greater muscularity, depicting that they wer eemployed in more strenuous activites than most modern peoples, and the skull features of this ancient human varies considerably. In the Czechoslovakian site of Predmost, out of 20 skeletons excavated from a grave, certain raminas clearly indicate modern appearance while others possess features similar to those of neanderthals.

Much more is known about Cro Magnon man than about any other prehistoric humans. Their stone tools were beuatifully made as well as bone or wood artifacts. The effeciency of their hunting methods is refelcted in the vast numbers of animal bones piled up at some sites. In France, the remains of over 10 000 horses have been found and the bones of mammoths liter a site in the Czech Republic. The burial sites of Cro Magnons are numerous and found to revela that these groups, like Neanderthalers, engaged in various ritual activities. Shell and ivory objects adorn the prepared bodies of the deceased who were buried in mass graves.

Cro Magnon man displayed the first examples of prehistoric art, with remarkable cave paintings and engravings, primarily centered around the theme of animals, but also of nonrepresentational subjects are present in caves all over southern France and Spain. These artistic efforts, along with the finely made tools, testify to the cultural sophistication reached by the Cro Magnon civilization.