More than 50,000 years ago, in the rocky landscapes near the village of Zdunje, in the upper Porečje region, lived one of the last Neanderthals of these lands. He was not a “wild man” from legends, but a person with mind, emotions, and culture. He knew how to light fire, craft stone tools with precise technique, and share food with his small community. His hands were strong yet skillful – in them, stone became a sharp blade, a scraper, or the tip of a spear/point. His mind could imagine and plan, pass knowledge to the young, and recall the places where game migrated. He cared for his kin, helped the injured, and mourned those who were gone.
When we stand today before his traces – stone tools, fragments of tools, flakes, animal bone remains, or an unfinished stone core struck only with the first blow – we see something beyond archaeology. We see that the essence of what makes us human is thousands of years old: curiosity, creativity, the ability to cooperate, to learn, and to care for one another.
The Neanderthal from Zdunje is distant, but not foreign. In his deeds, we recognize the beginning of the story we are still writing – the story of us.
And that is why, when we look at his tools, we do not see just stone – we see a mirror of our human story.