Thieves break into home of prehistoric Tautavel man

Thieves have stolen a model of the Tautavel Man, one of Europe's oldest discoveries, it emerged on Thursday. Discovered in 1971, the remains are estimated to be up to 450,000 years old.

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Head palaeontologist Tony Chevalier said the robbers got into the cave on Tuesday evening, after a research team excavating the site had gone home for the night.

The next day it was discovered that a silicon replica of the Tautavel Man’s skull was no longer there, while a 560,000-year-old bear skull was cracked and had a tooth missing.

When they were discovered in the south of France, Tautavel Man’s remains were the oldest ever found in Europe. The original is held in a research centre on the site.