The Steinheim skull is a fossilized skull of a Homo neanderthalensis or Homo heidelbergensis found on 24 July 1933 near Steinheim an der Murr, Germany. It is estimated to be between 250,000 and 350,000 years old. The skull is slightly flattened and has a cranial capacity between 950 and 1280 cc. Sometimes referred to as Homo steinheimensis in older literature, the original fossil is housed in the State Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart, Germany. Some believe that the Steinheim skull may have belonged to an adult female due to its gracile nature. Classification The "primitive man of Steinheim" is a single find. The designation "Steinheim skull" can be seen as a reference to the location of the fossil, but in no way identifies with a certain taxon. The skull shows characteristics of both H. heidelbergensis and Neanderthals. It is therefore classified by most paleoanthropologists to H. heidelbergensis and is believed to be a transitional form of H. heidelbergensis to Neanderthals. This has sometimes been referred to as "pre-Neanderthal.” The inner ear of the fossil has a feature in which Neanderthals and H. sapiens differ. The location of the semicircular canals of the inner ear in the temporal bone of the skull base is similar to the situation in Neanderthals, while the semicircular canals of the older H. erectus, as with H. sapiens, are closer. Until the late 1980s, the fossil was sometimes referred to as H. sapiens steinheimensis. During this time Neanderthals were also referred to as H. sapiens neanderthalensis. Today, however, many paleoanthropologists classify Neanderthals and modern humans as separate species, with H. heidelbergensis their possible last common ancestor (LCA). Therefore that two distinct species are to be considered: H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. A 2016 study by Chris Stringer found Homo heidelbergensis to have not been the common ancestor of Neanderthals and humans, being instead placed entirely on the Neanderthal side of the tree along with Denisovans (close relatives of the Neanderthals) and the Steinheim skull, which was classified as an early Neanderthal fossil. Taking this into account, the LCA of modern humans and Neanderthals needs to be dated even further back, e. g. to Homo erectus, see Neanderthal §Evolution. Sequencing of genome (aDNA) and proteome (ancient protein) of further human fossils has to be done in order to shed light on the relation of H. heidelbergensis and the Steinheim skull to the pre-neanderthal "Neandersovans", the proposed