(2.) NORTH AMERICAN NEANDERTHAL. (SubmarineArchaeologyTimes.blogspot.com)

A NEANDERTHAL STARTER HOME, WITH SWEEPING VIEWS OF (STONE AGE) MONTEREY BAY. On 9-15-11, when this photo was taken, a PSR sister sub cautiously navigated the murky waters at the Monterey Canyon cave entrance for a final accounting of the Neanderthal site. Although little more than an hour past noon on a clear California day, only a dim glow of sunlight (far background, top) is visible from the 456 ft (139 m) depth of the cave. Which slants skyward at a steep angle of nearly 30 degrees. Barely 35 ft (10.7 m) at its widest point, the 78 ft (23.8 m) long cave afforded little room for maneuvering the subs. The Neanderthal relics were all recovered from the cave's lower wall and floor (left of PSR's plastic flags), about 47 ft (14.3 m) from the cave entrance. PSR's marine archaeologist, Anthony Renvela: "There are some puzzling issues about this Neanderthal skull and those unusual artifacts. And the cave site in general. The archery bow in particular appears to have been deliberately entombed in a shallow niche near the base of the cave wall (left of flags). It was evidently encased or packed in there with a primitive masonry-like cement of some kind. The outer half of the containment must have fallen off and washed away at some later time. But it was intact long enough to facilitate the bow's eventual fossilization." (NOTE: The ENTIRE article describing the history making Monterey Canyon Neanderthal discovery can be read or downloaded via the LINK at the Profile page herein. All photos and captions in this Library were excerpted from the original American Neanderthal report at SUBMARINE ARCHAEOLOGY TIMES.)