The Neanderthal in the cave and the great sinkhole
In 1993, a few kilometres from Altamura, speleologists exploring the Lamalunga cave found something extraordinary: the almost complete skeleton of a Neanderthal man, embedded in the calcite concretions of the cave, as if fused with the rock. The Man of Altamura, who lived about 150,000 years ago, probably fell into a sinkhole and could not get out, and his body was slowly covered by the mineral formations, which preserved it. It is one of the most complete and best preserved Neanderthal skeletons ever found, and in 2015 scientists extracted DNA from a bone.
The skeleton cannot be removed from the cave without damaging it, so it is still in place, but the Centro Visite at the Masseria Ragone, near the cave, shows images, films and a reconstruction of the cave and the face of the man, and in the Altamura Archaeological Museum there is a reconstruction of his body. Nearby lies the Pulo di Altamura, the largest karst sinkhole in Apulia: a vast circular depression about 500 metres in diameter and 75 deep, with walls dotted with caves and a bottom covered with vegetation, formed by the collapse of underground cavities. Visit too the dinosaur footprints of the Cava Pontrelli, one of the largest sites of dinosaur tracks in Europe.
Tip: the visitor centre is open at set times, check before going; the Murgia National Park offers walks among masserie and sheep tracks.
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