Remarkably well preserved but covered in a thick layer of calcite taking the shape of cave popcorn the find was left in situ in order to avoid damage.

[citation needed] Only after a fragment of the right scapula (shoulder blade) was retrieved was it possible to produce an accurate dating of the individual, an analysis and diagnostic of its morphological features, and a preliminary paleogenetic characterization.

[1] Altamura Man is one of the most complete Paleolithic skeletons ever to be discovered in Europe as "even the bones inside the nose are still there"; as of 2016, it represents the oldest sample of Neanderthal DNA to have been sequenced successfully.

The sinkhole merges into a tunnel about 60 m (200 ft) long in which they found the Altamura Man incorporated into the calcium carbonate concretions that had formed by water dribbling down the cave walls.

Yet a number of phenetic peculiarities exist, such as the shape of the brow ridges, the relative dimension of the mastoids and the general architecture of the cranial vault, which according to the research team of the Sapienza University of Rome support accepted speciation chronology.