Neanderthalians are the first men that populates the territory of Versilia. There are numerous caves that were used for hunting, while usually their settlements are along the coastal plain, where are also groups of big mammals such as carnivores (hyena, lion and leopard) and big herbivores (mammuth, auroch, horses and rhinos).
The only one Neanderthalian human remain found in Tuscany, is the femur of a 9 years-old child, coming from Buca del Tasso (Camaiore).
In the room there is a reconstruction of a cave with two Neanderthalians, a father which is chipping the flint in order to make instruments and his son which is learning.
The animation on the screen shows our planet’s structure, the continental drift, Western Mediterranean geological history, the origin of Apuan Alps and geological history of Western Tuscany.
A map of the Mediterranean area of 22.000 years ago, shows the last glacial phase during the period of glaciers’ maximum expansion and marine maximum regression.
From this small terrace you can take a first glimpse on Prehistory, which is on the basement area, while this big chronological panel resume the steps from the Prehistorical age to the Renaissance.
From 7 millions years ago till today: a time travel searching for our ancient ancestors, joined by the mascot, Lucy: the Australopithecus female of three millions and two hundred years ago, full-size reconstructed.
Starting from Ardipithecus, our most ancient ancestor, the visitor can observe the various member of the genre “Homo” and their first manufactures, then “Homo ergaster e georgicus” movements, the spread in Europe and Asia of “Homo heidelbergensis” and his evolution into “Homo Neanderthalensis”. The tour ends with the only human race that populates the planet, “Homo Sapiens”. For each of this ancestors there is the representation of the skull, with the date of their founding and the skull development.
In the center of the room there is the representation of one of the first Neanderthalian burials, in comparison with one of the older burials of “Homo Sapiens”.
There are various techniques used by archeologists to reconstruct our past. There is the possibility to touch the reproduction of pollens, paleontological finds, reconstructions of Neanderthal and Australopithecus men, and DNA.
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