Lagoa Santa Man

Despite being known as the father of Brazilian paleontology and archaeology, Peter Wilhelm Lund was originally from Denmark. After completing his studies at the University of Copenhagen, a tuberculosis-stricken Lund immigrated to Brazil in the 1820s to recover in the warm climate.

After a lengthy period of studying and cataloguing the living birds, insects, and plants in Rio De Janeiro as a naturalist, Lund embraced his passion for the remains of extinct ancient fauna in the Brazilian interior. In the 1830s, Lund began exploring the deep karst caves of the region of Lagoa Santa in the state of Minas Gerais. In the process he discovered the bones of mastodons and giant ground sloths, as well as the first specimen of a saber-toothed tiger.

A decade into his investigations of prehistoric animals, Lund was shocked to find the skeletal remains of an ancient male human mixed in with those from giant ground sloths. The skeleton became known as "Lagoa Santa man." Soon after, Lund found the remains of 14 other ancient humans that have been dated back over 10,000 years.

The startling discovery led Lund to challenge naturalist George Cuvier's then-dominant theory of "catastrophism" as a cause of mass extinction. Lund came to the controversial realization that these ancient peoples existed alongside the prehistoric fauna, which they hunted.  

The Lagoa Santa Man and over 8,000 prehistoric artifacts associated with the ancient inhabitants of the region are on display at the Museu da Lapinha.