Stone-age skull found in Rotterdam harbor

The homosapien skull fragments found in the harbor in Rotterdam stand as proof that there were humans in the western areas of the Netherlands 10,000 years ago, the Department for Cultural Heritage has said.

The skull fragments were found by a man strolling along the Maasvlakte beach, and apparently came up with sand sucked up the sea bottom for the construction of Maasvlakte 2, the ongoing extension of the Rotterdam harbor. Research by the University of Groningen has shown that it concerns two pieces from the right side of a skull of an adult male stone-age man, between his right eye and ear. The university said the early man walked the earth at least 9,600 years ago. The spot where the bones were probably sucked up from is sea bottom today. Some 8,000 to 9,000 years ago the coastline started to retreat to where it is today. Man preferred to live in hunting camps on river dunes that were located higher up, as a natural protection against floods. It is not the first prehistoric find at the Maasvlakte construction site; earlier finds include firestone tools, charred human bones and fishbones. The finds are exhibited in the “Beleef het verleden” (Experience the Past) exhibition that is open till March 6 in the Maasvlakte 2 FutureLand Information Centre.