The Azykhantrop, or Azykh Man, is the

lower jaw In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bone ...

of a presumably female ''

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' (also ''H. sapiens heidelbergensis''), sometimes called Heidelbergs, is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of ''H. erectus'' in ...

'' pre-Neanderthal. The fossil was found in the

Azykh Cave Azykh Cave ( az, Azıx mağarası), also referred to as Azokh Cave () is a six-cave complex in Azerbaijan, known as a habitation site of prehistoric humans. It is situated near the village of Azykh in the Khojavend District. The cave is an impo ...

in the Hadrut District of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO), DQMV, hy, Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Ինքնավար Մարզ, ԼՂԻՄ was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its cap ...

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

(present-day

Khojavend District Khojavend District ( az, Xocavənd rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Lachin, Shusha, Khojaly, Agdam, Aghj ...

of Azerbaijan), in 1968, by Azerbaijani archaeologist

Mammadali Huseynov Mammadali Murad Oglu Huseynov ( az, Məmmədəli Murad oğlu Hüseynov) was an Azerbaijani and Soviet archaeologist. In 1960, Huseynov carried out excavations in the valleys of the Quruchay and Kondalanchay Rivers, in Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous ...

. No concrete date has been produced about the age of the fossil, but estimates range from 450,000 to 50,000 years ago.

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French ''acheuléen'' after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated ...

Paleolithic implements and remains of fire were also found out in the cave. Starting in the mid 1990s, researchers from

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

began renewed excavations at Azykh Cave.Зарубежные палеонтологи ведут раскопки в Азох-Ворванской пещере Нагорного Карабаха
/ref>

References

External links

* http://www.archeologia.ru/Library/Book/a699f80e79b0/page68 * https://web.archive.org/web/20111015021637/http://www.evolbiol.ru/human.htm {{Homo neanderthalensis, state=expanded 1968 archaeological discoveries Human evolution Neanderthal fossils Archaeology of Azerbaijan Prehistoric Azerbaijan