Philippe-Charles Schmerling

Life & Legacy

Philippe-Charles or Philip Carel Schmerling (2 March 1791 Delft – 7 November 1836, Liège) was a Belgian prehistorian, pioneer in paleontology, and geologist. He is often considered the founder of modern paleontology.
In 1829 he discovered the first Neanderthal fossil in a cave in Engis, the partial cranium of a small child, although it was not recognized as such until 1936, and is now thought to be between 30,000 and 70,000 years old. It was the second discovery of a fossil of the genus Homo after the discovery of the Red Lady of Paviland in Wales in 1823.