Cro-Magnon

American  

[kroh-mag-nuhn, -non, -man-yuhn] / kroʊˈmæg nən, -nɒn, -ˈmæn yən /

noun

1. an Upper Paleolithic population of humans, regarded as the prototype of modern Homo sapiens in Europe. Skeletal remains found in an Aurignacian cave in southern France indicate that the Cro-Magnon had long heads, broad faces, and sunken eyes, and reached a height of approximately 5 feet 9 inches (175 centimeters).

2. a member of the Cro-Magnon population.

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Cro-Magnon Scientific  

/ krō-măg′nən,-măn′yən /

1. An early form of modern human (Homo sapiens) inhabiting Europe in the late Paleolithic Period, from about 40,000 to 10,000 years ago, characterized by a broad face and tall stature. It is known from skeletal remains first found in the Cro-Magnon cave in southern France. Cro-Magnons coexisted with European Neanderthal populations for several thousand years, although there is little evidence of interbreeding.

2. See more at Aurignacian

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Cro-Magnon Cultural  

1. The earliest form of modern humans. The Cro-Magnons developed about 35,000 years ago and physically resembled modern Europeans. (See Homo sapiens.)

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Discover More

Cro-Magnon people painted the walls of their caves, producing some of the earliest known human art.

Etymology

Origin of Cro-Magnon

First recorded in 1865–70; named after the cave (near Périgueux, France) where the first remains were found

Example Sentences

He vowed to pursue a “Cro-Magnon diet,” an allusion to cave-dwelling early humans in the French southwest.

From New York Times

He said he based the concept of He-Man on his vision of Cro-Magnon men, as well as Vikings.

From Seattle Times

Hall has a square chin, broad Cro-Magnon brow and flinty green eyes.

From New York Times

“Or if it does look funny, you don’t say funny things. So I’ve been an ex-Navy SEAL, a bouncer, big daddies, which is cool. I’ve always had fun with that. But I love making people laugh. When I played football, my best memories in football came out of the locker room and cracking jokes. So comedies were always where I wanted to end up but when you’re a big guy with a big, Cro-Magnon forehead and a beard, Hollywood’s like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got other ideas for you.”

From Seattle Times

Sometime during the last glacial epoch, when hunter-gatherers were still living in caves, the Neanderthal tool-making mentality gave way to the Cro-Magnon urge to make images.

From Literature