[1] The fossil was discovered in August 1856 in the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte cave in the Neander Valley (Neandertal), located 13 km (8.1 mi) east of Düsseldorf, Germany.

In August 1856, two Italian workers extended the entrance to the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte by removing the naturally sintered, rock-hard clay layers embedded in the limestone of the cave.

Beckershoff, along with quarry co-owner Friedrich Wilhelm Pieper,[3] retrieved 16 bones and fragments from the rubble and handed them to Elberfeld teacher and fossil collector Johann Carl Fuhlrott.

Without his consent, a notice was published on September 4, 1856, in the Elberfeld newspaper and the Barmer Local Journal: In neighboring Neanderthal, a surprising discovery was made in recent days.

Perhaps this find can help determine whether the skeleton belonged to an early central European native or simply to one of Attila's roaming horde.This report drew the attention of two Bonn professors of anatomy, Hermann Schaaffhausen and August Franz Josef Karl Mayer.

Schaaffhausen described and interpreted the find.Schaaffhausen noted the unusually massive bone structure, particularly the cranium’s low, sloping forehead and prominent brow ridges: He considered these characteristics natural rather than pathological or the result of abnormal development.

[...] Although Schaaffhausen's own search for comparable specimens was unsuccessful, he concluded that the bones belonged to a native tribe that had inhabited Germany before the arrival of modern humans.Schaaffhausen published his findings in 1858 in the Archives of Anatomy, Physiology, and Scientific Medicine.

[6] A year later, Fuhlrott published a Treatise on Human Remains from a Rock Grotto of the Düssel Valley in the journal of the Natural History Society of the Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia.

When Fuhlrott published his treatise in 1859, the editorial committee of the Natural History Society of the Prussian Rhineland and Westphalia added a dismissive postscript, noting that he had "put forward views that cannot be shared."

Even Thomas Henry Huxley, a supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution, viewed the Engis find as representing a "man of low degree of civilization."

Until then, he had left their study to Bonn anatomist and ophthalmologist August Franz Josef Karl Mayer, a staunch supporter of the traditional Christian belief in creationism.

[13] Mayer, who missed the initial evaluation of the fossils during the winter of 1856/57 due to illness, later published his interpretations: He attributed the Neanderthal's "rickety" bone changes to pathological development.

The individual’s poorly healed broken right arm and permanent worry lines, caused by enduring pain, explained the pronounced brow ridges.

Even the accurate assessment of geologist Charles Lyell in 1863, which confirmed the antiquity of the fossils after his visit to Fuhlrott and the Neandertal site, did not shift prevailing views.

In 1864, Irish geologist William King published a detailed description of the Neanderthal fossil, emphasizing its ape-like characteristics due to the lack of comparative evidence.

[17] At the conclusion of his essay, King formally proposed the name "Homo Neanderthalensis" in a footnote, marking the fossil as distinct from modern humans.

Johann Carl Fuhlrott first observed the unusual massiveness of the bones, noting prominent bumps, ridges, and ledges that indicated the attachment of highly developed muscles.

William King similarly highlighted the exceptional thickness of the skeletal remains and agreed with Hermann Schaaffhausen's observations, which included the strongly rounded shape of the ribs, suggesting an unusual thorax structure for a human.

While the skull's width was comparable to that of modern humans, the forehead region appeared unusually flat and receding, with "excessively developed" bone ridges above the eyes.

[22][23] Schultz diagnosed several pathological conditions, including muscle tendon processes, a fracture of the left arm near the elbow joint, and a resulting deformity of the bone.

[25] In 1997, the research team succeeded in extracting mitochondrial DNA from the humerus of the type specimen, marking the first sample of Neanderthal mtDNA ever obtained.

[26] Beneath layers of residue, loam fillings, and blasting rubble from the limestone quarry, a number of stone tools and over 20 Neanderthal bone fragments were discovered.