In 1928, German anthropologist Franz Weidenreich published Der Schädelfund von Weimar-Ehringsdorf,[5] (the skull find from Weimar-Ehringsdorf) where he described the Ehringsdorf H (or Ehringsdorf 9) skull-cap as that of an adult female. He suggested that the frontal area of the remains showed evidence of being struck, which led to speculation that the subject was murdered. In addition, he determined that the lack of a cranial base meant the skull had been opened for the purpose of extracting the brain. The remains, however, were so fragmentary that little attention was paid to this opinion.

Based on the fusing of the Ehringsdorf H skull and small muscular traces on the bones, Weidenreich suggested the remains to be of a female of around 20–30 years old. Like the ones found before, the skull showed distinct ancient (pre-300 ka) attributes. However, certain cranial features appeared similar to that of anatomically modern humans, particularly of the occipital bone.

The skull was abnormal because it bulged out more in the left hemisphere than in the right. Weidenreich thinks this happened post-mortem, in the layer in which the skull was found. Weidenreich also considered variations in the thickness of the skull peculiar. The Ehringsdorf endo-exocranial different is remarkably low for Neanderthals.

Scottish anthropologist Arthur Keith made a study of the skull in 1931, concluding that it belonged to an individual less than 20 years old.

Specimens

Ehringsdorf H