In 2015, the fossils were re-dated and found to be much earlier than previously thought.University of Wisconsin.[3] This new dating is in line with the perceived age of the eleven stone artifacts found alongside the Saccopastore fossils, which were thought to have been older than the previously assessed date for the fossils.[3]
In April 1929, workmen of the quarry located near the Aniene River discovered a human cranium that looked to be fossilized. The skull was immediately delivered to Sergio Sergi, who began a long series of studies on the fossil. The Saccopastore skull was labeled a mature female. It is almost completely intact and overall shows a high degree of mineralization, even though it is missing both of the zygomatic arches and the mandible. After being discovered, the skull had taken damage by the workmen within the quarry. This included a number of dental crowns being broken and lost, along with some other damage to the supraorbital area and two holes punctured into the frontal and parietal areas of the vault.[4]
In the summer of 1935, A.C. Blanc and H. Breuil discovered another, less complete cranium in the same area where the first skull was found in 1929. The second Saccopastore skull is identified as a male and is lacking the entire vault, along with the left front orbital areas, and part of the base.[5] Morphological differences between the two skulls are the result of sexual dimorphism because one is a mature female, and the other is a young adult male. The skull has a cranial capacity estimated around 1,280 and 1,300 ml, and the facial size is smaller than that of a Wurmian Neandertal's, but larger than the first Saccopastore skull.[4]