article_snippet.sent: (CNN)About 150,000 years ago -- give or take 20,000 --
article_snippet.sent: a guy fell into a well.
article_snippet.sent: him became the oldest Neanderthal to have him DNA extracted by researchers.
article_snippet.sent: The cave explorers told researchers at the University of Bari what The cave explorers'd found, according to The cave explorers report published in March in the Journal of Human Evolution and Phys.org.
article_snippet.sent: Altamura Man's intact skull and jumbled pile of bones made for a great specimen, but The cave explorers were wedged into a panoply of stalactites and stony globules deposited by water dripping over The cave explorers for tens of thousands of years.
article_snippet.sent: So, Researchers left Altamura Man's forever a cave man.
article_snippet.sent: Calcite pebbles line the Neanderthal's eye sockets, nose bone and an upper jaw like a hundred decorative piercings.
article_snippet.sent: Analysis of the calcite has shown the bones to be 128,000 to 187,000 years old.
article_snippet.sent: Scientists believe Altamura Man's wound up in the cave at least that long ago after falling into a prehistoric well, then died in the caverns at its bottom of thirst or hunger.
article_snippet.sent: Recently, researchers made an exception, and toted off a chip from Altamura Man's right shoulder blade to the lab.
article_snippet.sent: Metrics taken of Altamura Man's skeleton confirm
article_snippet.sent: Altamura Man's was a Homo neanderthalensis.
article_snippet.sent: Altamura Man's will spend perhaps endless eons glaring silently out of Altamura Man's cranny in the world's most secluded spot, or, as Altamura's archeological museum describes it, "in the corner of a small cavity situated between the ground and the back wall.
article_snippet.sent: The scientists hope The scientists will be able to sequence Altamura Man's DNA, to find out more about the evolution of all hominids -- including us.
article_snippet.sent: And to hear some of Altamura Man's story about life in Neanderthals' early days in Europe, before Altamura Man's happened to stumble into that darned hole.