La Ferrassie rock shelter is located near the village of Les Eyzies in the Dordogne valley, France.The site yielded skeletons from eight Neanderthal individuals, including adults, children, infants, and two fetuses. All were intentionally buried at the shelter.

La Ferrassie 1 skeleton (the skull of which is shown here) is of an adult male. The skull shows many of the typical Neanderthal traits including a prominent supraorbital torus, a low-vaulted cranium with a receding forehead, a large nasal opening, and a well-developed occipital bun (a swelling of bone at the back of the skull on the occipital bone). All of the teeth were preserved in place and show heavy wear indicating that the individual was relatively advanced in years at the time of his death. Early in the study of the remains from La Ferrassie, a curious asymmetry in the wear across the incisors was noticed. Instead of wearing flat, the biting surface of the incisors is beveled toward the front (or lip). It has been hypothesized that this is the result of habitual use of the teeth for purposes other than chewing, such as holding something in place between the teeth. Although the interpretation has been debated, the use of the teeth as a tool may represent an interesting aspect of Neanderthal culture.

The importance of the La Ferrassie remains cannot be overstated. La Ferrassie produced the remains of an adult male and an adult female, providing documentation of sexual dimorphism (differences in size between males and females) in Neanderthals. In addition, the remains of the juvenile and infant individuals help paleoanthropologists reconstruct the developmental stages of Homo neanderthalensis.

Probably most important are the postcranial (body) bones associated with La Ferrassie 1. An earlier reconstruction of a Neanderthal skeleton by Boule (La Chapelle-aux-Saints) portrayed Neanderthals as stooped, brutish creatures -- misconceptions that have stayed with our notion of Neanderthals to this day. The morphology of the leg bones and the foot demonstrate without any doubt that the posture and gait of Neanderthals differed very little from modern humans. Today the skeleton of La Ferrassie 1 is considered the "classic" example of Neanderthal anatomy.