The Altamura Man lived more than 130,000 years ago when ice sheets were expanding from out of Antarctica and Greenland. His fossilized skeleton imprisoned in calcite formations remained hidden from view at the bottom of a sinkhole near Altamura, a town in southern Italy, for many years. It was not until 1993 that the remains of the Altamura Man were unearthed in a cave.
His body was lying in an inaccessible location, and frustrated scientists had difficulties getting to his remains. The body remains were stuck in a small chamber deep in the karst cave system.